Mobile Suit Gundam: Beyond Detrimentum - Book 1 Fateful Encounter
by Shane Gentry
Summary: This is a side story of several pilots during the One Year War that took place in 0079 of the Universal Century timeline. It mainly follows a young pilot named Seiga Matsuda and his fellow crewmembers.


**MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM**

_Beyond Detrimentum Book 1:_

FATEFUL ENCOUNTER

_By William Shane Gentry_

Chapter 1

0079.07.15; 0743 Hours Outside Zeon Controlled Space of Side 3

Dim light flickered from the screen, coinciding with the ringing sound as it awakened Seiga. He rose up and activated the communications relay on the monitor. The image of pleasant looking young blonde woman appeared onscreen. Her eyes were a pretty shade of green and her hair flowed just past her shoulders.

"Ensign Matsuda, please report to the Bridge. The captain says there will be a sortie soon and wants to brief the pilots." Echoed throughout the empty room.

"Right away 'Tasha."

_Hmph_. Natasha exhaled."That's Petty Officer Torres, don't break regulations like this just because we're friends."

The monitor went dark and the room was again void of light. After unlocking the safety straps Seiga placed his feet on his bunk and pushed himself toward the locker on the opposing wall from the monitor. Floating through the air he slowed his movement by placing his right hand on the locker and applying force.

It had taken him some time to adapt to moving without Gravity, even though he had never experienced real Gravity. Life in a Space Colony was much different than life aboard a ship, especially a Military Vessel. While sleeping, it was necessary to strap yourself in, so you didn't go floating off during the act. For a moment he thought about his life back on Quintzem, the colony in the Side 3 cluster that he grew up in, before snapping back to the present.

"Regulations, regulations... she always gets so riled up when I call her that." He muttered as he opened the locker to grab his uniform. It was olive green with a gold symbol across the chest that slightly resembled wings. He adjusted the collar and finished the buttons as a fond memory of the first time he wore a Military uniform came to him.

It was the day before he left for the Military Academy and his mother was fixing his collar for him. "You can't go there looking like this." She had said. Natasha had stopped by that evening, jealous that he was leaving home. He could remember that all he wanted to do then was follow his brother, Nolan. Nolan had gone to follow in their father's footsteps, leaving him behind back then.

_Knock_. _Knock._ Seiga sighed, knowing that he wouldn't be coming back to these pleasant memories for a while now. He also knew that it would be one of three people that knocked on his door and one of them had just called him from the bridge.

"Hey Seiga, you gonna open the door?"

"It's open!" He yelled, hoping the sound would travel through the thick metal door. The door slid open revealing the silhouette of a man and allowed light to invade the small room, lighting it enough for its contents to be seen. A bunk, locker and a small chair under a desk; his room was humbly furnished.

"You hear that the Captain wants us in the Briefing Room for an upcoming assignment?"

"Yea Barry. Natasha already told me that there was going to be a mission." Seiga exclaimed, though he was uncertain as to why Natasha had told him to report to the Bridge if Barry was heading for the Briefing Room. _Maybe it has something to do with that rumor..._

"Good, then get dressed and head over there." Barry ordered as he placed his hand on the console next to the door. "And turn on some lights once in a while!" He flicked the light controls. Seiga's pupils shrank as the flare of the lights completely illuminated the room. It also revealed how different they looked. Barry Riggs was at least half a foot taller than Seiga, his hair was a light brown and clean cut as opposed to Seiga's shaggy, darker hairdo. In almost every way Barry seemed to be the opposite of Seiga. Though, the one thing they did have in common was combat expertise. It wasn't coincidence that after Barry was assigned to the _Lutherian _the Captain had made them comrades.

From the start of the war, both pilots had shown great potential. Barry and Seiga each shot down over twenty enemy fighters during Operation British. At the Battle of Loum, Barry was credited with a Magellan Battleship and two Salamis Class Cruiser kills, earning him a promotion to Lieutenant Junior Grade and overshadowing Seiga's three Salamis kills. Friendly rivalry was a great spark for both pilots to hone in on their skills.

"I'll head over soon. I have some business on the Bridge." Seiga stated.

"Is this really the time to go visiting your girlfriend?" He paused for a moment and began to imitate the Captain. "Don't forget, we could come under attack at any moment."

"That's actually who I have to go see." Seiga said as he laughed. There was more of that Berry Riggs humor that Seiga couldn't understand. Sometimes he wondered if Barry used those jokes as a way to cope with war or if he had no sense of humor at all. "I know the Captain always says that. But I don't the Federation has the ability, let alone the numbers, to launch any scale of attack out here in space." Seiga said in a serious voice and began to stare blankly at his locker. Images of the war's beginnings flashed through his mind like an old movie reel. Hundreds of ships firing at one another at Loum. The colony falling into Earth's atmosphere and becoming lost behind the spherical curve of the surface. He may not have seen it fall, may not have seen it hit and kill millions of people, but he knew that it did. This war had taken its toll on both the military and the civilians. _All of this in the name of independence,_ he had always told himself.

"Don't dwell on the past too much;" Barry said as he caught Seiga staring off in thought, "just head to the Briefing Room." Barry hopped backward enough to get him off the floor and began making his way down the hallway towards the Briefing Room. Seiga, having finished putting on his uniform during the conversation pushed himself outside of his quarters. Closing the door behind him, he made off in direction of the Bridge.

As he approached the Bridge he could hear the Captain giving navigational orders. "Upon picking up the new Zakus from the supply ship, we're to head towards sector 15."

_New Zakus? I guess the rumors were true._ His mind started to speculate how an upgraded Zaku would handle in combat as he entered the Bridge and saluted. The current generation of Zaku, the MS-06F Zaku II, was already so dominate compared to the Federation's weaponry. The Federation's fighting force consisted mostly of ships and fighters out in space, and even on the ground the best they could muster to fight against the Zeon were tanks and several other types of land vehicles. It had been evident since the early stages of the war that the flexibility of Mobile Suits would cause everything else to be all but outdated. Even now, the Zaku was proving it's worth. The Zeon ground force had taken over almost half of the Earth Sphere.

"Ensign Seiga Matsuda reporting to the Bridge as ordered, Sir."

"Very good, Ensign." Captain Regald said as he stood and saluted back. He was another rather tall fellow. Much older than most of the crew as well. His face was covered in wrinkles and hair. Ever since the first time Seiga saw him, the man had that same beard. Trimmed perfectly every day. "At ease, Ensign." He said as he released his salute. "I'm sure you overheard what I just said about picking up new Zakus."

"Sorry, Sir. I did overhear you mentioning the new Mobile Suits." Seiga released his as well, noticing that Natasha was looking in his direction instead of her control panel. _She's one to talk about regulations..._

"There is some correlation here, as I wanted to ask you something. Since your combat record is as it is, I thought it would be appropriate for you to have options." He stopped for a moment and stroked the tip of his beard, as he often did, before continuing on. "I've heard that having your Mobile Suit painted a certain color is very popular among the pilots nowadays. What do you think about colors?"

"Colors? Captain, I'm not sure..."

"The colors of your Zaku, Ensign. Lieutenant Riggs has already told me what color he wanted his to be painted. You do have some sort of preferable color, do you not Ensign?"

"Blue will work, sir." He replied, knowing well enough that blue was not _his_ favorite color. He looked over at Natasha, who had now turned around, wondering what she thought about that.

"Oh... that's not the answer I was expecting..." Seiga wondered why the Captain was surprised by that answer. But he knew he wouldn't find out, so he let it slide. "I'll notify the supply ship that your Zaku will also be a shade of blue."

"Thank you." _Also? Why would Barry choose that color as well?_ "Is that all, Sir?"

"Yes, report to the Briefing Room, I'll be there shortly to go over the mission plan." Regald responded. As Ensign Matsuda turned the corner, Regald muttered, "I'm almost certain as to why Matsuda chose the color, but not Riggs..." Captain Regald began writing something down and walked over to Natasha. "Relay this message to the Supply Ship. I'm off to the Briefing Room, Lieutenant Commander Vaughn you have the Bridge."

"Yes, Sir!" Chanted the Bridge crew.

When Seiga arrived at the Briefing Room he stood outside the door for a moment to collect his thoughts. It all seemed too strange. Upgraded Mobile Suits and a new assignment made Seiga wonder if things were getting serious in space again. At least his skills were being recognized, though the whole custom colorization had thrown him for a loop. Neither he now Barry had performed as well as some of the other pilots, like Johnny Ridden and Char Aznable. He did realize that both of them had out performed every other pilot in their fleet, and probably in the entire Zeon Space Force. He knew it would all come to light soon. _Maybe in this briefing, I'll learn _more. Seiga shook his head and proceeded into the room.

The Briefing room was rather large, with enough seats to hold up to twenty combatants. A large monitor took up most of the wall in front of the chairs with a small desk in front of it. Seiga looked around the room to see that all the pilots from both ships were already in the room, before spotting Barry. Seiga made his way over to his squad. "Must be something big if all eight of us are going to be deployed in the mission."

"Yea, seems that way." Barry replied without turning to recognize Seiga. His gaze was fixed on a pilot from the other ship.

"Hah, you're one to talk about girlfriends, Barry. Maybe you should stop looking at Teresa and focus on this briefing."

"Smart-ass." Barry uttered. Everyone looked over at the two of them. Barry coughed to collect himself as the door slid open to reveal Captain Regald entering the room. Everyone immediately stood at attention and saluted. Captain Regald returned the salute for a brief moment before starting his briefing.

"At ease men." The Captain ordered as he took his seat behind the desk in the front of the room. "Now then, what we have here is an order to support a special group of pilots that have been tailing a Federation Reconnaissance unit." The screen lit up behind him, but nothing but blackness filled it. "They have already rendezvoused with the Supply Ship and are waiting for us. The basis for the mission is simple. Eliminate the enemy Ships before they escape our defensive zone."

"How many ships are we talking here, Captain?" Lieutenant Commander Kennith Massey asked.

"Reports indicate the enemy consists of a single Magellan Battleship and a Salamis Cruiser." Captain Regald answered as an image of two ships appeared on the monitor before it changed to a close up view of the larger ship, the Magellan-class Battleship. "Laser scope images suggest they have fighters attached to their hulls."

Seiga could make out the outlines for several of the fighters that were attached to the lower section of the ship's hull. He had seen enough of those fighters during this war. Though he was glad that they were relatively outmatched by the Zeonic Mobile Suits.

"You mentioned a special group of pilots. Who are they, Captain?" As usual Massey wanted all the bases covered. He wasn't one who liked to fight without knowing the odds.

"You may have heard of them, they are known as the Black Tri-Stars." Three images popped up on the screen of three different Zakus. Each was black and dark purple. Everyone started murmuring to the person next to them. Seiga recognized their title and wondered why pilots who were held with such high regard were assigned to such a trivial matter. The Captain cleared his throat to silence the bunch.

"The ones who captured General Revil at Loum, Sir?" This time it was Aurelio Wong who asked.

"The very same." Some of the pilots began to whisper again, but the Captain continued. "Now then, we'll discuss the next order of business. When we arrive at the Supply Ship there will be new model Zakus waiting for us." Images of a Zaku filled the screen. Some were just different angles and others were close ups to technical details. "The new model has been designated the MS-06F2 Zaku II, there are technical details in the mission briefings that you will receive." One of the images grew to fill the entire screen. It depicted the front of the Zaku, from a left side perspective. Seiga noticed the thicker armor and wondered if that was all that was upgraded.

"To put it in simple terms, the performance has been increased in all areas by a small margin." The image changed again, showing an image from further away, allowing the entire Zaku to be seen. "And as you can see, the armor is a bit thicker." Seiga looked around, thinking about the high cost it would take to furnish even a small fleet, like this one, with these new models. "Before you ask questions, each pilot here will be getting one." Some excited murmuring filled the room for a brief moment. "But!" Captain Regald continued. "Not all of you will fly for this mission. One of the Zakus are not ready." No new image filled the screen this time. Seiga wondered what was keeping that last Zaku from being ready. "It seems there was some malfunction during a test flight on the Supply Ship."

"Who isn't going to participate in the mission then, Captain?" Teresa Howell, the object of Barry's attention this entire briefing, requested. Her eyes were a deep brown and her auburn hair was full of fantastic curls that went down almost to her shoulders. But she asked the wrong question. Most of the _Lutherian's _crew knew that Captain Regald was quick to anger and even quicker to punish.

"Since you are so eager to find out without letting me finish, you are grounded for this assignment." Regald retorted. Teresa's face began to redden, Seiga wondered if it was from embarrassment or anger. He looked up at Barry's expression. His eyes looked fierce.

"Calm down, this could be your chance to finally make your move." Seiga assured Barry in a whisper. He responded with a nod and turned toward Regald.

"Do you two have something to add?" The Captain asked.

"Sir, I'll volunteer to sit this mission out."

_Not what I meant! _Seiga yelled in his thoughts as he put his hand over his face.

"The matter has already been decided, but you're willingness to sit idly by during combat worries me, Lieutenant Riggs. I hope you're not getting yellow." snapped Regald.

"Sir, it wasn't meant to be..."

"I said that it was settled. Everyone return to your posts and wait for further orders. If things go smoothly we should reach the Supply Ship within the hour and then head out for the enemy shortly after. Dismissed!" Everyone saluted as the Captain exited the Briefing Room. Once the door closed the pilots began to move into their respective combat units assigned for the mission. Barry moved towards Teresa, hoping to comfort her.

_That's the move I was talking about. _Seiga turned to Kennith Massey; Kennith was average height and build. He reminded Seiga a little of his father. His face was hardened from years of work and wrinkles crossed his forehead many times over. He was a strong man, who always seemed to know what to do and how to handle most situations. As Lieutenant Commander he was also the commanding officer for all the Mobile Suit pilots in Regald's Fleet.

"What do you think of all this, Commander?"

"I think Barry needs to learn to keep his mouth shut. Statements like the ones he made to the Captain can ruin a man's career." Kennith frowned. "Being called a coward isn't the worst that could have come from that."

Seiga looked over at Barry and Teresa, she was smiling at him. _Looks like they are hitting it off._ Moving toward the door he notified Massey that he would be heading to the Mess Hall. Massey nodded approvingly and began discussing things with Wong.

_What's with all of this happening at once? New model Zakus and now even the Black Tri-Stars were being mobilized for such a trivial mission. _Seiga was going through the motions of navigating the hallways. Kicking off from one wall, to the other. The change from gravity was indeed strange to get used to, but now he was comfortable enough to maneuver through the ship without thinking about it. _On top of that, our unit hasn't seen any action for months. Not since the Invasion Force started landing on the surface. _Seiga was finding it hard to put the pieces together. There had to be something that the higher ups weren't telling the grunts. He had hoped that the mission briefing would bring things to light, but instead it had just left him with more questions. _There's no way that the Federation Space Fleet has recovered enough to-_ Seiga ran into someone as he cut the corner.

"Hey! Watch where you're going! Oh-" Natasha's voice echoed through the hall. "It's you."

"Whoops, sorry 'Tasha." Seiga apologized.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I hate that nickname?" Her voice was still raised. "What are you doing wandering the halls right now anyway?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing." He said with his hands gesturing for her to lighten up. "Did your shift just end?"

"I just got off and I was heading to my room to change." Her eyes shifted from his face to the wall. "Why?"

"Was wondering if you wanted to grab some lunch. On my way to the Mess now." He said as he signaled in the direction behind him. They had both moved around in a circle and were now facing the direction at which they were previously heading.

"All right, but you'll have to wait for me to get out of this uniform." She was blushing now.

"Sure thing." Seiga said as he kicked off from the wall following Natasha.

Chapter 2

"Now wait out here." Natasha said as she quickly stowed away into her room. On a ship this size there just wasn't enough space for everyone to have their own quarters. Many of the regular crew members were bunked four to six in a room. Granted they were larger than the ones the pilots used, but not by much. And since the amount of women currently in the Military was relatively low, compared to the men, they generally shared rooms with less people. Luckily for Natasha, the two people who also stayed in the same room were on duty during this time, which is usually when she slept. In a cramped space ship, getting peace and quiet isn't that easy.

Seiga leaned against the wall next to the door. He found himself still thinking about all of the unknowns that had crept up on him today. He also realized that he had been thinking about his brother a lot today after talking with the Captain on the Bridge. More so than usual. It had definitely been too long since he had seen him. _I just can't catch a break today..._

"Waiting for the right time to peep in there, eh Seiga?!" Wong asked quizzically.

"The thought hadn't even crossed my mind, Wong." Seiga responded. He wasn't even sure what Wong was doing on this side of the ship. His quarters were on the other side. "What are you doing over here anyway?"

"Oh, you know. The usual." Wong replied. "But my question still stands."

Seiga realized now that his earlier questions was Wong's strange way of asking him what he was doing standing in front of one of the few quarters for women. "I'm just waiting to get some lunch with Natasha."

"Oh, so you finally asked her out on a date then?"

"Date?" Seiga had a confused look on his face.

"You're hopeless!" Wong roared as he floated down the hall. "If you ever want some tips on how to be a man, just ask me. You'll have all the women after you in no time."

Seiga closed his eyes. _Sometimes it seems like I'm the only normal person on this ship._

0079.07.15; 0755 Hours Federation Forces' South American Headquarters, Jaburo

Eric Shaw slammed his feet down on the thruster pedals, forcing his Mobile Suit to ascend. He began firing the 60mm head mounted Vulcan Cannons at the Zaku below him as engaged the reverse thrusters, sending him backwards. Luckily for him the Zakus he was facing off against were the old MS-05 Zaku I types. The bullets pierced its meager armor, shredding the cockpit to pieces and forcing it to fall backward to the ground. The Mobile Suit didn't explode, which wasn't good enough in his opinion, but there wasn't time to fix that. Another Zaku was moving in on him. Turning to his right Eric lined up a shot with his Beam Rifle on the approaching Zaku. It brought its ZMP-50D machine gun up to firing position. Eric pulled the trigger and the beam rifle fired a bolt of mega particles, which melted through the head of the Zaku. It was one of the most powerful weapons that Eric had ever seen. A rifle that small firing with the power of a Battleship.

"That's enough for today Ensign Shaw. Meet us in the observation room." Buzzed in as the simulation cut off. The screens went dark, showing a clear NO INPUT message in thick red letters.

Eric cut off the monitors and opened the cockpit. The bulkhead slid down, showing off the hangar at which his Mobile Suit had safely sat this whole time. Ahead of him was a large catwalk that extended across the front of the cockpit. A technician leaned over the rail with his hand extended. "How is it?"

"This thing is incredible. The power output of this machine is far greater than the commandeered Zaku I piloted." Eric replied as he grasped the technician's hand. "I wonder if it handles this well in live exercises."

"If it doesn't work like its supposed to, then just let me know and I'll tune it up." The technician said with a chuckle. "I heard they are just about finished with the ship commissioned to take our unit into space." He pulled Eric from the cockpit and onto the platform. "Shouldn't be too long before we make it up there."

"I can't wait." Eric said as he looked up at the Federation's prototype Mobile Suit, known as Gundam. He knew that currently he was one of the pilots being considered for the testing, but after all the simulations today he felt that it was almost a certainty that he would be picked to pilot this amazing machine. And amazing it was. It outperformed the other prototype Mobile Suits being developed and proved to be more versatile. The Gundam looked truly powerful. It was much slimmer than the Zeon Zaku and surprisingly more armored. It had a very distinct look that reminded Eric of old Samurai Armor. A v-shaped crest donned on its forehead and powerful yellow eyes that seemed to see straight into your sould. He looked up at the observation window and noticed that one of the figures behind the glass was motioning for him to come up.

"I won't hold you up here any longer." The technician said with a big smile stretched across his face. "I haven't seen them this anxious after a sim' in a few days. Looks like I might be seeing you in space, my friend."

"Let's hope so." Eric nodded as he headed for the stairs. He turned one last time to admire the Gundam from afar. The yellow eyes hadn't caught his attention before, but he noticed them now. Something about them held his attention for much longer than they should have. He would have to discover what it was later. As the pilot of that Mobile Suit. The pilot of the Gundam.

0079.07.15; 0835 Hours Supply Zone Rendezvous Point

"Captain, we've arrived at the supply ship." Alerted one of the operators.

"Bring us in slow, around to the port side. Inform Trufold to dock the _Javad_ on the starboard side." Captain Regald ordered. The two ships approached the Papua Class Supply Vessel, coming around both sides to the conveyor belts. The Papua Class ships were originally missile cruisers years before the start of the war. The large amount of cargo space made them a prime candidate for refitting into supply ships. "Start the transfer of supplies. Alert all the pilots to move the old Zakus onto the Papua and receive the new models as planned."

The announcement blared over the intercom, alerting the crew that they needed to get to work. Seiga and Natasha were still sitting in the Mess Hall when the alert came. His tray was almost empty, but hers sat there almost untouched. Seiga was worried something was wrong, but she didn't seem to want to talk about it.

"Looks like I need to get back to work." He said as he picked up his tray. "I'll see you after the mission probably."

He caught a glare from her before realizing what he had just said. He would see her after the mission. _Probably_. It wasn't something you just tell your oldest friend before going out to fight in a battle. He returned her stare with a smile.

"Please be careful out there Seiga." She said in an almost pleading voice. She always got worried before battles. It wasn't like the Mobile Suits made them invincible. Seiga learned the hard way that people can still be shot down by inferior weapons.

"I will." He said, with half of his smile still showing. He kicked off slowly toward the garbage disposal. "Just hold down the fort for me."

"Wait Seiga." She said following him. "About earlier. On the Bridge." He turned to look at her face, they both knew how serious this conversation would be if it actually happened, but she looked too nervous to finish asking.

"I picked his color-"

"Never mind." She said softly. She knew this wasn't the time to talk about this. And definitely not the place. The Mess Hall was crowded with other crew members. Some who had just got off twelve hour shifts and who were looking to scarf down some grub before hitting the sack. Others who were eating before going on duty. "You better get going. Barry always says that you're late."

"Right." He said. "I'll see you when I get back."

Back in his quarters he took off the coat of his uniform. It had always felt as if it made him too stiff and he was glad to take it off. Seiga looked down at his pilot suit. He remembered the first time he saw his brother in one and really started to feel the depression of his earlier conversation. He had even more of an uneasy feeling now, regarding the mission. _I just have to make it back._ He thought. _Nothing hard about that._

After donning his pilot suit, he headed for the Hangar, slipping on his helmet just before entering. Massey and Wong took off as he opened the door, sending tiny pieces of scrap paper and an assortment of loose tools and parts crashing into the back wall. The Chivvay's Hangar was makeshift, but it was still larger than that of the Musai Class ships. It was large enough to hold eight Mobile Suits, though currently the _Lutherian _only had four Mobile Suits and pilots. The rest of the Hangar was filled with large containers, mostly full of parts, strapped down to the floor. The only two remaining Mobile Suits in the Hangar belonged to Barry and himself.

"About time you showed up Seiga." Barry shouted as he noticed Seiga. "I was beginning to think I'd have to do all the work for you. Like usual."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Seiga muttered as he propelled himself towards his Mobile Suit. His current Zaku was painted with the standard two shades of green, one dark and one a medium shade, all over and the cockpit hatch an even darker green. The Zaku was a large bulky machine, he imagined people thought about tanks the same way when they were introduced, and the second generation was even more so than the first. The Zaku II was basically a straight performance upgrade across the board. Even with its heavier armor. The addition of the shoulder mounted shield on the right arm and the spiked pauldron on the left shoulder didn't help its size much. The MS-06F Zaku II was a solid machine. It had performed well for him in the past. Giving it up was almost like losing a friend, one that helped you kill hundreds of people, but a friend no less.

"Nothing, just get ready to move out, the Captain wants us to be done with all this by 0930."

"Right, guess we should launch then." He climbed into the cockpit and closed the hatch. "Systems look good. Seiga Matsuda requesting permission to depart from the _Lutherian_."

"Permission granted, proceed at your own discretion." Replied an operator on the Bridge.

Seiga throttled his mobile suit out of the hangar nice and slow. He checked his monitors to see Barry was right behind him. As they emerged from the hangar Seiga was able to catch a glance of the Black Tri-Stars in their custom Zakus as they were patrolling the area. Seiga noticed several extra thrusters and a slightly different body type, so he assumed they received new Mobile Suits as well. He wondered if they were assigned to this mission to test the performance, but then realized it wouldn't make sense for them to hand out so many models if they were still being tested. "Yo, are those the same ones we're getting, Barry?"

"I don't think so, those are the High Mobility Type I believe. Too expensive to give to us front line guys. Ours won't be quite like those."

"I wonder how much different they will handle than our old ones." Seiga said. His voice was low. "It's not like we've even had these for that long."

"Yea. At this rate we'll have a new Mobile Suit every other week." Barry chuckled.

"Doesn't make sense to focus so much on the Space Forces if all the fighting is being done on the ground right now."

"I hear ya." Barry said. "Maybe the higher ups know something we don't."

"Probably." Seiga speculated as both Zakus landed in the Papua. "So we're just supposed to leave these wherever?"

Inside the Papua it was a cluster of busy workers, men and women in normal suits, moving cargo around. Some of it ammunition, some of it food. All of it was vital supplies the two ships needed. The supplies meant for the _Lutherian _had to be carried via small shuttles since the Chivvay class ships didn't have a receptacle for the conveyor belts. Wong and Massey were already inside, standing next to a pair of Zakus. The armor upgrade was apparent when comparing the two side by side. Seiga looked around, not being able to spot a blue Zaku anywhere.

"Where do you think-"

"You got the same color as me?" Barry interrupted. A towing craft pulled several large containers out from against the wall revealing a small enclosed area. Where two blue Mobile Suits stood.

"I thought your favorite color was red?" Seiga asked, confused as to why Barry had picked blue also. _He_ had a reason to pick that color. To him it meant something.

Barry laughed. "Yea, you're spot on. But I can't be running around in a red Mobile Suit, someone might think I'm trying to be Char Aznable or something." His laugh quietened to a chuckle. "I picked blue because there is something about that color. It represents a kind of strength that isn't explosive."

"I see..." Seiga stated, still unsure of his partner's actions. He examined the two Mobile Suits as they walked over to them. Both seemed slightly different than the ones Massey and Wong were standing next to. They were also different from the ones the Black Tri-Stars were piloting. The Captain hadn't made any mention of this, and it continued to add to the haze of confusion made by recent events. "Well, better get started." Seiga opened the hatch on his cockpit and kicked off toward the new Zaku. Barry did the same shortly after. Seiga climbed into his new machine and started it up. For a brief moment he saw MS-06R-1 HIGH MOBILITY TEST TYPE flash on the screen.

After both ships finished loading the supplies they began to pull away from the Papua, heading toward the other Musai that had patiently waited for them just one hundred kilometers away. The _Lutherian_ and _Javad _pulled up on either side of the Musai making a triangular formation. After a brief moment of data transfers, the formation of ships fired up their engines, moving in the direction of the last known location of the Federation Reconnaissance Unit that had infiltrated Zeon Space.

0079.07.15; 1912 Hours Space Dock 7, Jaburo

Dozens of deckhands were busy loading cargo onto the _Rengaru_ as Eric watched from above, leaning against the railing of the catwalk. Much of the equipment was spare parts for the RX-78 Gundam that was to be carried by the ship into space. After countless hours of simulations and a few ground performance tests it had come down to him and one other pilot. The man's name was David Nash. He had proven to by a tough competitor but bowed out just before the last set of trials. Eric was glad for that. He thought about piloting the Zaku that his unit had taken from the Zeon forces. It had been clunky and slow compared to the Gundam. _Look at me now,_ he thought. _A test pilot for the Federation's own Mobile Suit._

Now he was overlooking the loading of equipment for _his _Mobile Suit. The Mobile Suit he wanted to pilot so badly. The one that would be powerful enough to fight against the Zeon. And that was the part that got him excited. Fighting the Zeon. Ever since he was defaulted as the pilot for the Gundam he had been anxious to get out into space. To get the testing over and done with. He had never wanted to go into space. Never wanted to be near those that had been exiled from the surface to live in oversized space trailers. But to get a shot at revenge, he would do anything. This war carried a personal cost for him, and he wanted to make the ones responsible pay for it with their lives. And he knew he could do it. With the Gundam.

"Don't worry Ensign Shaw, soon we'll give those Zeon bastards what they deserve." The voice came from the doorway behind him. Eric turned to see a man in an officer's uniform. "I'm Captain Grant; Owen Grant. I'll be your Commanding Officer on board the _Rengaru._"

"Sir, Ensign Eric Shaw," He saluted and put on a fake smile. "Pleasure to meet you. Sir."

"At ease. I'm actually on my way to meet some of the other crew that was assigned to the ship, would you like to join me?"

"No, thank you, sir." He didn't care about the other crew right now. "I need to oversee the loading of my equipment." Another lie, he had no authority over the loading of the equipment. And from this distance he couldn't even tell what was being loaded into the ship. Then came the truth. "I want everything to be perfect when we're out in space."

"Sure thing." Captain Grant said as he adjusted his hat to hide the look on his face. Eric figured that Captain Grant knew he was just bullshitting him, but the man proceeded to exit the room. Eric returned his attention to the staff that were loading the ship with a disappointed look on his face. Everything wasn't moving fast enough for him.

_ We can not get into space soon enough._

0079.07.16 0021 Hours Ten Minutes From Target

Massey, Riggs, Wong and Matsuda were all standing by inside their Mobile Suits. It had been hours since their rendezvous with the Papua and now they were out on their manhunt. Each of the pilots dealt with the calm before battle in a different way. Kennith Massey was reading a book, thumbing through the pages at a steady pace. Barry Riggs was looking through a sketchbook where he had drawn up schematics for all sorts of modifications to weapons and his Mobile Suit. Aurelio Wong was slowly flipping through a magazine with a busty woman on the front in a bikini. And then there was Seiga Matsuda. Seiga had been quiet the whole time since joining the rest of his comrades in the Hangar. Thinking of his brother. Of Natasha. His family back when they were all still kids.

A message rolled up on each of the pilot's left monitors. Alerting them that they were close to the target.

"All right fellas. We've got the enemy on the laser scopes." Massey stated after putting his book down. "Let's get ready to defend our independence."

Seiga switched from thoughts about his family to the current situation. And to what Massey had just said. Were they really fighting for their independence? He wasn't sure. Ever since the colony drop it seemed more like a massacre than a war for independence.

"Think we'll have to do much fighting with the Black Tri-Stars here, Massey?" Wong asked in a quiet voice. His magazine was shut and laid face down in his lap. It seemed that even Wong could be serious.

"Our orders are to support them. That's what we'll do." Massey said. "We'll do whatever is needed to make sure this mission is complete."

"What do you think the Federation is even doing out here?" Wong was all questions today.

"I can't imagine that we'll ever know for sure..." Massey said. It seemed he had all the answers. "But I reckon they are trying to scope us out. Make sure we aren't bringing out any more toys to play with them."

"Why bother?"

"I don't know, Wong." Massey said with a slight agitation in his voice. "Its not the job of a regular soldier to know these things."

"Don't rope us all into that regular soldier pen. Don't forget that some of us aren't your average Joe." Barry said. His voice was filled with pride.

"Right, right. I forgot Ensign Matsuda was here." Massey taunted.

"You'll see, old timer." Barry said. Massey's joke seemed to really get under his skin. Seiga always suspected that Barry thought he was the best pilot in the fleet and this helped confirm that suspicion.

"Guys, just chill." Wong said. It was odd for him to be the only one not joking around right now. Seiga knew there would be plenty of it to go around after the mission. All work and no play makes Wong a dull boy. "It's not like this mission will go by any better with you arguing."

"Matsuda." Even on a low volume Massey's voice was loud as it came in through Seiga's comm system. "Are you still awake over there?"

"Just waiting to get this over with Lieutenant." Seiga replied. All he felt like doing right now was seeing his parents and his brother. But that wasn't going to happen. He knew Natasha felt the same way and he wondered if she was feeling down as well.

"Liven up a little," Massey said. "We're about to start a mission, not take a nap."

"Roger." Seiga said, unaffected by Massey's taunt. "I just have a lot on my mind right now."

"If it causes any problems out there I'll give that new machine over to Ensign Howell." Massey was serious now. He wasn't much for jokes anyway. "Do you understand?"

"Sure thing."

It was another five minutes of silence after that. Massey had picked up his book again, while the rest of the pilots had continued to sit at the ready. Waiting was hard for Seiga. He already wanted to get out of there. He just wanted to talk to Natasha. About what had happened to them. He needed her reassurance. The waiting was going to drive him insane. And then the order finally came.

"All pilots prepare to launch, we're moving to combat alert." Natasha's voice said over the common channel. It was soothing to Seiga. Exactly what he needed to hear before heading out. Several acknowledgments came through the comm system. The other three pilots from the _Javad_ and a few he had never heard before, which he assumed were the three Black Tri-Star pilots. Then finally another short transmission from the _Lutherian's_ bridge. "All Mobile Suits launch immediately."

"Roger!" Replied all four pilots almost in unison. One by one the Zakus powered up. The distinct Mono-Eye camera on each Zaku lit up as if it were a cyclops suddenly awakening from a deep slumber. And one by one each Mobile Suit began moving towards the hangar doors.

"This is Kennith Massey, launching!"

"Aurelio Wong, launching!"

"Barry Riggs, heading out."

"Seiga Matsuda, departing the ship." He knew Natasha could hear him. He wanted to say more. That he would be back. That he wasn't going to leave her too. But he knew that pulling that kind of shit would get him in deeper shit with the Captain. _I'll just tell her when I get back._

"Form up. On me, behind the Black Tri-Stars." Massey ordered. The five green Zakus moved up behind the three black and purple Zakus while Seiga and Barry held up the rear. At least for the time being. "Increase to combat speed."

Barry seemed adamant about staying in the rear. He had mentioned something about showing off the new machines, but Seiga wasn't sure how they would do that if they let the Black Tri-Stars and everyone else go out in front.

"I see small engine flashes up ahead." One of the pilots from the _Javad_, Irwin McKenzie, said. Seiga knew it wouldn't be long now. Even in the rear of the formation he could feel the adrenaline trickling through his blood stream.

"New orders Ensign Matsuda. Lieutenant Riggs and yourself are to intercept any fighters, clearing a path for the Black Tri-Stars." It wasn't the voice he had hoped for, but it did give meaning to what Barry had said before they launched. He had never heard the man's voice, not in the eight months he had been with Regald's fleet. It was one of the operators on that outside Musai cruiser. The one that had brought the ace pilots that accompany them on this mission.

"Taking care of the small fries?" Seiga said quietly to himself.

"Don't sweat it. We'll be able to show off these high mobility types this way." Barry said. Seiga looked over to see that the comm link was still open for the pilots native to the _Lutherian_.

"I guess we better show them how it's done then." Seiga replied as he slammed on the thrusters. His blue Zaku powered forward, passing the other Mobile Suits with ease. _I like this,_ he thought. He could almost see the enemy ships now, four kilometers away. And in between them and himself were a swarm of fighters. The same fighters they had fought the entire war. The same fighters that were outmatched by the flexibility and functionality of the Mobile Suits. The FF-S3 Saberfish.

"We'll mop up these fighters and destroy one of those ships on our own." Barry smirked as he too accelerated, passing everyone, including the Black Tri-Stars. "Here they come."

Several Saberfish were heading directly toward the squadron of Zakus, the two blue Mobile Suits out in front, at a steady speed. Several more were still detaching themselves from the hulls of the Salamis and Magellan. Neither the Magellan nor Salamis class ships had internal hangars. The Federation fleet was built around ship to ship combat rather than focusing on mobile weapons, like the Zeon fleets.

A group of fighters were further out front than the rest and had moved onto to an intercept course for the two Zakus that had moved out front and off to the right from the rest of the group. There were a total of eight Saberfish and they moved in a V formation, with more on the left side than the right. Seiga began lining up a shot on the forward most Saberfish and fired a barrage from his MMP-78. Seven 120mm rounds were expelled from the barrel of his gun, four of which slammed into the front Saberfish. He quickly readjusted his aim and fired two more rounds. This time his accuracy was perfect, both rounds hit the second Saberfish in the nose section. Both damaged fighters exploded in a brilliant white flash.

By now both forces were within five hundred meters of one another. The Saberfish began returning fire. A volley of missiles headed toward the Zaku troop at break neck speed. Seiga throttled his engines and flew straight up, firing at the missile barrage. Several of the projectiles collided together, causing a chain of explosions. His Mobile Suit then thrust forward and fired at the Saberfish that flew under him. He clipped one of the fighter's wings, but they were moving too fast for him to get a perfect shot.

The other Zakus that belonged to Regald's fleet had moved ahead of the Black Tri-Stars as well and were now acting as a shield of sorts. Several of the Saberfish had broken off from the main group to follow Seiga and Barry, who were now rather far out from the main group, but the bulk of the swarm was on a direct course for the Zakus. Both sides were exchanging fire during the charge and at the last minute the three black and purple Zakus broke formation, headed straight for the two enemy ships.

"Seiga, you've got some on your tail." Barry said, stating the obvious. He had been evading random bursts of enemy fire for the last twenty or thirty seconds now.

"Same goes for you Barry." He strafed to the left and up slightly as another volley of 25mm rounds whizzed by. "I've got a plan, follow my lead."

Almost immediately the two Zakus shot off in opposite directions at nearly full speed. Seiga glanced behind him to see that the fighters had proceeded to pursue them, four of them were hot on his trail. He allowed them follow in a straight line a little longer before taking a wide right turn. One of the Saberfish tried to lead a shot on him and opened fire. Two rounds bounced off his thick shoulder shield as the rest passed by.

"On three..." Seiga said as he began to count in his head. _One._ The Saberfish were gaining on him, in a matter of moments they would overtake him if he didn't increase speed. _Two._ But he didn't plan on doing anything of the sort. In fact he planned to do the exact opposite. "Three!"

Seiga slammed on the reverse thrusters. He even extended the Zaku's legs forward and used them to slow himself. _If I don't come to a complete stop..._ His body slung forward, locking the safety harness. If it hadn't locked his head would've smashed right into the forward controls and monitor. The entire cockpit was vibrating hard. He could feel it in his teeth as they clenched. He looked forward to see Barry right in front oh him, just meters away as they both stopped. _Now_, he thought as he slammed his foot down on the thrusters, rocketing him upward. Barry followed suit, just a split second behind him.

The Saberfish's maneuverability was good, but not nearly good enough. Both groups that have given chase to the cobalt Zakus were scrambling to avoid one another. Seven fighters, flying in confused paths, now passed under both Seiga and Barry. Two of them collided, exploding in a fantastic yellow and white flash. Both Zakus opened fire at the enemies below. Seiga held the trigger down until the drum magazine of his MMP-78 was empty. The small squadron of fighters were now in pieces, destined to float endlessly through the vastness of space.

"Like shooting fish in a barrel." Barry said. It took a moment for Seiga to recognize what was said, it was just before Barry began to chuckle that he realized it was another one of Barry's jokes. He could still feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins. His heart was still pounding. But he couldn't help but laugh. No matter how cheesy the joke was. And for a moment that was the sound that filled both their ears. They had survived so far, and this was a good way for them to celebrate.

"What are you two laughing at over there?!" Echoed through the radio. A recognizable voice, one from the _Javad_, Lance Holman. "We've still got enemies swarming all over the place."

"Seiga." The laughter was gone from Barry's voice. "You go on ahead. I'll handle these back here."

"What?"

"You can't let them have all the glory." Barry replied. There was a certain uncertainty in his voice now. "And don't argue with me."

"Roger."

Seiga's engines hummed for a moment before rocketing him toward the Federation ships. He was just three kilometers away now, even if the two Federation vessels were heading at full speed in the same direction he would still catch them within a few minutes. He could see the occasional flash from ahead, the Black Tri-Stars must have been putting up a good fight. _At least they haven't taken out the ships yet. Almost there._

The enemy lock on alert blared into Seiga's ear. He quickly looked around all three cameras, hoping to spot his new opponent. He couldn't make out anything but the blackness of space, with the occasional flash in the distance. It didn't seem as if there was any reason for the alarm to sound at all. Nevertheless it continued blaring.

"Shit! Where is this guy?" Several rounds flew by him, one of which slammed into his Zaku's left shoulder. "Behind me?"

He throttled down his forward thrusters and darted to the left. A warning flashed on the left and right screens along with another alert sound. Almost yelling at him that there were incoming missiles. Seiga turned, aimed at the incoming objects with his rifle, and fired several rounds. Two of the missiles were shot almost instantly as he opened fire, but there were more. He put his foot all the way down on the throttle, hurling him faster through the void. He fired another burst of shots, trying not to empty his drum mag.

_One..._

_ Two..._

_ Three..._ His clip ran empty as the last high speed missile came barreling at him. He kept the throttle down, moving at a high rate of speed, but the missile was gaining on him. _How is my clip empty?_ He thought, knowing that he hadn't fired another hundred rounds since he reloaded. He ejected the magazine from the rifle and grasped it with the Zaku's left hand, then threw it like a disc. It almost collided with the missile, barely going above it by what looked like a few meters. _Shit!_

The missile was still gaining ground on him and Seiga had calculated that he had about five seconds before it would make impact. He would have just enough time to reload and fire a few shots or he try one other thing. In the blink of an eye Seiga reached behind him for what he wanted. Bringing his arm back around he produced an grenade. It looked similar to an old World War II era grenade, the cylindrical explosive section was at the end of a small rod that was used for the handle. He flipped the fuse. _Three seconds..._ The missile was still getting ever nearer. _Two... _It was almost close enough that he could almost kick it with his Zaku. He tossed the grenade short.

_One._

The grenade exploded just a few meters away, setting off the missile. Seiga sighed in relief as he reached for the last drum magazine that was hardpointed on his Zaku's waist and reloaded his MMP-78. But his moment of relief dissipated as another volley of bullets buzzed by. Two rounds hit him in the back, damaging his backpack and the joint for the left arm. The sound of tearing metal rang throughout the cockpit and Seiga could instantly feel the loss in power, the left thruster on the backpack continued to push out for a short amount of time before finally dying, as he the left arm's controls became sluggish. "Behind me again?"

Seiga kept on the thrusters, looking around, trying to spot his opponent. He hadn't even seen a glimpse of this enemy. Had no idea what kind of machine they were using. For all he knew it was some sort of new Federation fighter. Another volley of bullets barely missed him and Seiga turned and fired in the direction of the incoming fire. He could see the engine flash of his mysterious opponent, but couldn't make out the outline.

"Lets see how much this Zaku can take." Seiga said, putting the leg thrusters to maximum output. His path wasn't stable and he began moving in a zigzag pattern to compensate, all the while keeping his eye locked onto the tiny engine flash. _Come on... _He began lining up a shot on the enemy, the cross-hairs kept bouncing and waving. _Come on..._ A beep from his instruments and he fired a barrage of his own.

Two distinct impact flashes and it was over. The engine flash vanished and now there wasn't much to see. As he neared he realized what his enemy was, a solid black Saberfish. Had they been fighting without the sun hidden behind the Earth this fight might have been over in a few seconds. But that wasn't the case. Still, no Saberfish pilot had ever given him this much trouble. _Some sort of ace?_

The two rounds that penetrated the craft, one near the cockpit going through the top and out the bottom and the other in the left engine set, had just disabled it. Seiga was close enough to see movement in the cockpit. A slim figure, but most likely belonged to a man, frantically checked the consoles and various instruments in the cockpit. _No doubt trying to start his machine up again._

_ Pffffffffffumph. _Even though Seiga couldn't hear it, he knew that was the sound that would have been produced. A plume of flame surrounded the immediate area as shrapnel shot out, scratching his armor. The Saberfish had vanished behind the mass of fire and metal. Just as sudden as the explosion happened it was over, and there was nothing left but Seiga and his Zaku.

"Self destruct..." Seiga said as he continued to look where his opponent had been, just moments ago. _Or did the engines explode?_

He shook his head, deciding not to waste any more time. He throttled up his engines, moving at a steady, stable pace toward the Federation ships. Even from a distance he could see that it was over now and he was too late. One last rocket ruptured the hull of the Salamis Cruiser, splitting the ship in half. The Magellan was missing several sections of it's hull, like someone had taken bites out of it, including the Bridge. Several clusters of debris suggest that there were several Saberfish that had stayed behind to help protect the ships. The trio responsible, the Black Tri-Stars, were moving into formation, heading back to the ships. As they went by Seiga found it hard to believe that they had caused such destruction with just three Mobile Suits. In less than the three minutes it took for him to deal with the lone Saberfish. _These guys are on another level._

"Ensign Matsuda," Said an unknown voice that he would later learn belonged to Gaia, the leader of the Black Tri-Stars. "Return to the fleet."

"Roger, on my way back."

0079.07.16 0045 Hours Hangar Bay of the _Lutherian_

"What in the _hell_ is this _shit_ Seiga?" One of the mechanics yelled. "Look at this shit. Aren't you supposed to be some kind of ace?"

"Sorry Rupert." Seiga apologized, still coming off of the adrenaline rush and being yelled at wasn't helping. He had never seen Rupert this mad before, even when his Zaku got banged up during Operation British. "One of their guys was pretty good."

Seiga looked up at his damaged Zaku. The paint was charred to a much darker blue in the front. _From that Saberfish._ The shoulder shield was coated in dents and scratches. The left shoulder wasn't as bad as he thought, the pauldron just warped a little after being hit, causing it to jam up at the joint. The round that had pierced the backpack though, that looked terrible. It had gone straight through, and was much closer to the cockpit than he had originally thought. Twisted, blackened metal protruded from the breach like teeth, just three meters from the cockpit. _All from that Saberfish_.

"I'll come back after the debriefing and help you fix it up."

"Yeah, yeah. Just get out of here before I put a hole in _you._"

The hangar doors opened slowly as Barry's blue Zaku waited outside. As it landed Seiga could see the blue coating was still pristine. No sign of damage, or even a scuff. A perfect sortie for him. Seiga placed his hand on the side of his helmet, hitting the small switch that turned on his short range radio.

"How many did you get Barry?"

"Eight for sure. Two I'll have to confirm with Higgins over on the _Javad_." Barry paused, noticing the damage on Seiga's Zaku. He was perplexed as to how it could be in such shape. "Did you get into a fight with the Tri-Stars or something?"

"It looks that bad?" Seiga asked. He knew it looked that bad, and he knew it was worse than it looked. He wasn't in some standard issue Zaku and he still took a beating. He shrugged, "Black Saberfish caught me off guard. I took care of him though."

The Hangar doors had closed and the ventilation system was pumping air into the room again. He looked back at his Zaku one more time, thinking about what Massey would say. What Captain Regald would say. But more importantly, what Natasha was going to say. And what did he have to say for himself? _A Saberfish tore me up._

"I'll see you in the briefing room." Barry said as Seiga was taking off his helmet. "Hopefully the Captain is in a good mood."

On his way to the briefing room Seiga hoped he wouldn't run into anyone. After missions he liked to keep to himself, at least until he got to see Natasha, but he didn't have to worry about much. Massey and Wong would likely be in the Hangar for another twenty or thirty minutes and Barry wouldn't go until they were ready. The adrenaline was wearing off now and he could feel his legs getting weak. _Maybe I should get some rest after the debriefing. _When he entered the briefing room it was empty. _A good sign_. He thought as he sat down to write his report. The screen on the desk flashed to life when he touched the keyboard. Midway through his report, Captain Regald entered the room.

"Ensign Matsuda." Captain Regald said. "Good to see you made it back in one piece."

"Thank you Captain."

"What did you think of the new Zaku's performance?"

"It proved to be a valuable upgrade, sir."

"I assume you noticed that both Lieutenant Riggs and yourself received different models than the rest of the pilots."

"Barry seems to think they are the High Mobility Types, similar to the ones that the Black Tri-Stars received."

"That's a good assumption, what do you think Ensign?"

"They perform almost the same, but look slightly different. My guess is that they were two of the test models that had been refitted when they started production."

"Spot on. I see that giving those two machines to such good pilots was not a mistake."

"Thank you, sir."

"I understand you had a little trouble out there." Captain Regald said. Seiga's eyes shifted to the floor. _Does everyone know about that already? _"I look forward to reading your report, please be sure to go into detail." Regald continued. "You can finish it on your own time, consider yourself debriefed."

Captain Regald saluted for a brief moment before opening the door and disappearing behind it. He finished writing his report, going through as much detail as possible about the performance of the new Zaku and even his struggling victory over the enemy ace.

Seiga massaged his eyes with his index finger and thumb before pressing the submit key on the keyboard. He was tired and there wasn't much that could change that. He needed to help Rupert fix up his Zaku. He needed to talk to Natasha. But he decided that he needed rest more right now, everything else could wait.

0079.07.20 1142 Hours Jaburo

Eric had spent countless more hours in the simulator during the last week. The _Rengaru's_ launch had been delayed for some technical reason or another. Eric never found out what exactly caused it, but it angered him a great deal. He was close to getting out in space. Close to getting what he wanted. And now he was stuck on Earth, for at least another week the technician's had said. It was only a rumor, but he hoped the delay wouldn't be any longer than that.

"Heading in for some more sims?" George McTavish asked. Apart from a few other technicians, George McTavish was the only person from the _Rengaru_ that Eric had conversed with. George was a man in his late fifties or early sixties. All of his hair had turned grey with the exception of his eyebrows which were still a thick, sharp black. His face was covered with hair in the form of a nicely groomed beard and connecting mustache.

"Yeah." Eric responded. "Got to pass the time somehow."

"Just remember to take a few breathers this time."

Eric chuckled. "Right." He knew he wasn't going to take any breaks, there wasn't any point. The simulations didn't fatigue him anymore like they used to. "I will."

_This new habit is going to get me into trouble one day._

0079.01.16 0056 Hours Side 5 Colony Cluster, also known as Loum

Seiga could see countless flashes in the distance, his heart beat rapidly, sweat beaded across his forehead. He was worried about the nuclear ordinance that was loaded onto his Mobile Suit. The one in the launcher in his left hand and the extra missile hardpointed on his waist. A stray shot at the wrong time would mean the end for him and he knew it. A few of his comrades had met similar fates in the short time of the battle.

Another bright flash, this one the size of a miniature moon, engulfing a Magellan Battleship. _Another nuke._ Seiga thought. _Hundreds more deaths._

He had been hiding in the remains of a Musai cruiser. The severed nose section, where the Hangar was, made for great improvised cover.

_Why am I here?_ He asked himself. _Haven't I done all this before?_ The whole scenario felt very familiar. Then he remembered that he had to find Nolan. He inched the Zaku up over the nose section of the Musai to scan the area. To attempt to find his brother. There was so much fighting going on that it was almost impossible for the camera to pick up much. He could see several Zakus moving in groups taking on swarms of Saberfish as they advanced on the Federation ships.

Hundreds of ships were engaged in combat. Yellow and pink lines, coming from main cannons firing on both sides, crisscrossed the image from Seiga's main camera. He continued scanning the area, searching for a blue Mobile Suit, only to come up short. He had caught glimpses of a few red Mobile Suits and a white one, but not blue. It would have been much easier to find his brother if he could contact the _Lutherian. Hell, even the crew on the _Javad_ would probably know where he was._ But Seiga was too far out. The radio was useless with all the Minovsky particles being dispersed and there wasn't much chance of getting a Laser Pulse transmission off right now either.

The ship formation, consisting of four Musai and a single Zanzibar, between him and Regald's fleet was buckling under the constant barrage of Mega Particle fire coming from three Magellan battleships and four Salamis cruisers. The Federation line was pushing hard in several areas, but about one third on their fleet had already been destroyed.

Seiga pushed away from the debris he was using as cover and lined up a shot with his Nuclear Bazooka. The missile pushed off hard and fast, sending his Zaku backward. The small missile proceeded to slam into one the Salamis cruisers. The blast nearly incinerated the entirety of the ship.

"Nice shot." He recognized the voice as one of the pilots from the fleet, but it wasn't who he was hoping for. "Lieutenant Massey sent me over here to give you some support."

"Thanks." Seiga said as he fired a volley of rounds at a Saberfish that whizzed by. "You're one of the pilots from the _Liandri_, right?"

"Name's Barry Riggs, you have another shot in that 'zook?" Barry was now in a two man formation with Seiga.

"One more missile." Seiga said as he looked down at the console. A nuclear symbol was blinking on his screen showing that the last of his ammunition was still active. _Ready to kill._ He thought. Seiga wasn't comfortable using nukes, much less carrying them around and firing them himself, but this was war. It wasn't about comfort. "Want it?"

"Hand it over, I'll take out one of the Battleships over there if you give me some cover." Seiga slowed enough for Barry to grab the Bazooka and last remaining warhead from him. "Over there, starboard side!"

Three Saberfish were moving in on them. They opened fire. Several shots blazed by, barely missing both Mobile Suits. With his left hand now free Seiga drew the Heat Hawk from his waist and in a fluid motion brought it up, smashing into one of the oncoming Saberfish. He turned and fired a volley of rounds from his ZMP-50D 120mm machine gun, one of the enemy craft began veering off out of formation and collided with some debris from a Musai. _Two down, one to go._

"Looks clear, take the shot when you have it." Seiga said as he fired a second burst of bullets, shredding the fuselage of the last small fighter. Barry weaved in and out of the panic fire coming from the Magellan with the exposed flank. A round smashed into the shield on his shoulder causing him to spin. Barry clenched his teeth and used the momentum to maneuver under the vessel. He fired the last warhead into port side of the Battleship, the explosion pushed it in the direction of the Salamis Cruiser that was brushing by on the starboard side. When the Magellan exploded it pelted the Salamis with deadly, heated shrapnel that cut through the hull.

"Well damn, almost thought I got two for one there." Barry said with a chuckle. Several flashes shined brightly through the holes in the Salamis cruiser's hull before the ship exploded in a fiery mess. "Guess I spoke too soon."

One of the Musai took a hit directly in the bulk of its hull, the gaping hole was outlined with red and orange, and exploded shortly after. The three remaining Musai cruisers advanced forward, with the Zanzibar in the rear, firing wildly. The two Magellan battleships continued to push forward as well, the Salamis cruisers close behind, closing the gap between the two lines. Another Musai was hit, this time a bolt of the high powered particles fired by the ships main guns ripped through the port side engine. The engine exploded in a bright, quick flash, but the ship was just slowed.

"Distract the AA." Seiga said as he headed downward.

Barry moved in close to draw the attention of the two Magellan's anti-air guns, allowing Seiga to flank from below. The underside was the weakest area in the the Magellan's defenses, but with his current load-out that didn't make much difference. The ZMP-50D might be able to pierce the thick armor, but it wouldn't do any significant damage. He'd have to hit a softer spot. Seiga swooped up from below to the bridge of the ship. Rounds from his machine gun tore through the protruding structure as he circled in a clockwise fashion. Leaving the bridge a jagged, ripped bunch of metal Seiga evaded the frantic AA fire as he put distance between himself and the ship.

The parallel Magellan took several hits from the group of Musai that had begun encircling it. The Zanzibar, still in the rear, fired one of its large anti-ship missiles. It was massive, bigger than Seiga's Zaku. The projectile slammed into the bridge-less Magellan, piercing the hull and going deeper in before exploding. It wasn't quite as devastating as the nuclear ordinance that he had used earlier, but the Magellan was torn to pieces. The inside had expanded vastly before the ship came apart, sending large warped sections of the hull flying.

The two Salamis cruisers moved in close on the single engine Musai. The two small craft fired rapidly, aiming for the Musai's main cannons. Two shots landed. One cut one of the six barrels, the other went straight through. The Musai stopped firing almost immediately. _The reactor?_ Seiga thought as he passed by, taking a few shots at the Saberfish that were still in the area. The area around the cannons started to warp. The hull looked as if it were bubbling skin. The Komusai, stored in the nose of the ship, detached itself from the dock. The attempt to get away was in vain. The Musai's reactor exploded, engulfing both vessels and leaving behind only fragments.

The remaining two Musai continued firing on the last Magellan as the Zanzibar brought up the weakened side, engaging the two Salamis cruisers. The Zanzibar fired its second Anti-Ship missile at one of the opposing ships. Anti-air guns on both ships fired wildly at the projectile and finally shot it down. But the explosion was large. Large enough to make contact with one of the ships and melt away the armor plating on the nose and side. A few shots from the Zanzibar's main cannon and the damaged Salamis was toast. The two Musai had finished up with the Magellan and were now flanking the only remaining Salamis. A few moments passed by and several lifeboats shot out from the small ship just before the ships started firing again. The three Zeon ships fired back, ending the immediate fighting in the area.

"Should head back now, ya think?" Barry asked.

"Yeah, let's move." Seiga said as both Zakus rocketed towards Regald's fleet. He was relieved to see that all four ships were still intact, but he wondered how many of his comrades were still alive. "Requesting permission to dock for refuel and supplies."

"Permission granted, engineering crew is on standby." Natasha's soothingly familiar voice echoed through his radio. "Glad to see you back-"

"-Seiga."

Seiga's eyes peeked open. It was still almost pitch black in his room, the only light came from the black screen of his communications monitor. _Was it just a dream?_

"Seiga."

He heard the voice again. It was coming from outside his door and he knew who it was. He rose up and moved over to the door. Before opening it he took a deep breath, preparing himself for the ear-full he would surely get.

As the door slid open, revealing Natasha's slender figure, all he could see were the tears that swarmed from her eyes.

0079.07.20 1142 Hours Launch Pad 3, Jaburo

The _Rengaru_ sat on the launch pad, atmospheric thruster attached on the rear, waiting to launch. The ship was one of a kind. Sporting a new body style that differed greatly from the Magellan and Salamis class ship it was wider, but not quite as long as the Magellan. It also sported a docking bay, putting it in a similar role as the Columbus class ships, but with much more firepower. Eric had heard talk that there was a new class of ship being developed and that the _Rengaru's_ design would never see production, but he hadn't seen any other ships during his stay at Jaburo. Not that he was keeping an eye out either, most of his time was spent in the simulator and going over the data afterward.

He himself had become impatient. The launch delay had lasted far too long for his tastes. Simulations weren't enough to quell his thirst for actual combat. He wanted to feel what the Gundam could do. See for himself how well it performed in live combat. Everything he had seen, tested and done had shown him that it was a superior machine, but to actually see it in a real situation. That was what he needed to satisfy him.

Eric was strapped in. Waiting in the cockpit. Waiting to get into space. Waiting to see how well the Gundam would help him take what was his. It didn't take much for Eric to convince Captain Grant to allow him to be on combat alert during the launch. Everyone knew that the Zeon soldiers controlled the majority of space around the Earth. That threat alone was enough to make Eric's case.

Captain Grant hadn't known what to think of Eric when he first met him, but after observing his peculiar behavior he was split on the decision. The man was either an extremely dedicated test pilot, or a man who was so obsessive that he would spend every waking hour training for a machine. Captain Grant hoped it was the former, and dreaded that it was the ladder. From his talks with the crew, only a few had even met Eric Shaw, let alone conversed with him. _Am I crazy for letting him into that Mobile Suit right now?_

"Two minutes to launch, Captain." Alerted one of the operators. Wilson was the name. A rather nerdy looking fellow, he thought. The big thick rimmed glasses were what gave him the impression.

"Inform the crew and tell engineering to make sure that the Mobile Suit is secured." Owen Grant wasn't about to let himself be made a fool of. If the Gundam was damaged during the launch, or worse if the pilot took off with it after leaving the base, his ass would be gone. During a project of this caliber there was no room for mistakes and he was already dangerously close to making one. "Tell Doctor Rowe that I want to speak with him once we make it out of the atmosphere."

"Thirty seconds to launch, Captain." Another operator chimed in. Wilson was too busy with the tasks laid out for him.

"Start the countdown. Have everyone brace for heavy G's." Captain Grant fastened the safety harness around the bulky normal suit. Everyone else on the bridge followed suit.

The second operator began the countdown at twenty and broadcast it to all personnel.

Eric clenched his teeth, _this is it_. He was going to space and it was only a matter of seconds away from happening. For every second that counted down he noticed his heart beating faster and faster.

"..3..2..1."

"Launch now! Engines to Maximum!" The launch pad filled with smoke from the burn as the ship's thrusters fought viciously against gravity's pull. The ship began to shake, as if the Earth had tightened its grip and did not want to let go. The incredible force exuded from the thrusters began to overtake gravity and finally the ship began to pull away from the surface, rapidly climbing in altitude and speed.

_ "We have liftoff Captain."_

0079.07.20 1325 Hours Lunar Orbit, Granada

Days had passed since the last enemy engagement. Regald's Fleet had docked with the lunar base, Granada. Regald scoffed at the idea of a fleet. The group of ships that he commanded had been worn down to his own Chivvay and a single Musai. Not much of a fleet in his eyes. The Federation may not have Mobile Suits, but their ships still had considerable firepower. At the start of the conflict, Regald had the command of five ships. During Operation British one of the Musai cruisers under his command fell victim to a ramming attack from a Salamis. And during the intense fighting at Loum resulted in the loss two more ships, one of which was commanded by his son.

Harrison Regald's private cabin was about as well furnished as one could expect on a space ship. The room itself was small and dimly lit. A portrait of a young man was positioned on the wall directly behind his desk. Along the walls were half a dozen wooden shelves filled with old books. Wooden furniture was quite odd for a space ship and overly expensive as well, but Regald had good taste. At least he thought so.

A rectangular shape emerged from the center of the desk, folding back to reveal a screen. A static-filled blackness lit up the screen, "Captain, Vice Admiral Dozel requested an audience with you."

"Thank you Petty Officer Torres, I'll take it here. Put it through on my private line." He pressed a button on the keyboard that was hidden under the monitor, causing the screen to go blank for a moment before switching to the image of a very large man. Large in size, but not gut. Dozle Zabi was one of the tallest men Regald had ever met.

"Captain Regald, good to see that you are doing well."

"Thank you, Vice Admiral." Regald replied, forcing a cheerful look. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"A new assignment." He laughed for a few moments, his voice so loud that Regald was sure anyone outside the room could hear. "But we'll talk about that once you arrive."

"Arrive? So you're requesting that we head back to Solomon?"

"I need you to check something for me." Dozle had a grim look on his face now. "But I'm not willing to discuss it in this manner."

"Of course Vice Admiral, we'll head for Solomon at once." Regald's halfhearted cheer had all but melted away as well. _If the Admiral is going to play serious then so will I._ "I have a request though."

0079.07.24 _Lutherian_, Stationed at Solomon

Seiga was still thinking of Natasha. She had come to his room after the last skirmish with the Federation, eyes filled with tears. He hated seeing her in such despair. She was all he had left, and the opposite was true as well. After he had lost Nolan, she was the only person left that knew him before the Military. The only one that knew what he was really like.

Natasha was there to pick up the pieces for him. She helped him sort out his emotions and his fears. Even before his brother was gone they had spent hours together. She would always listen to every horrific detail of his thoughts. What went through his mind while fighting. The urge to kill. Yet none of it seemed to affect the way she saw him.

But her last visit wasn't as revitalizing as they usually were. She had come with eyes full of tears and left the same way. His best guess was that she had seen the damage done to his Zaku. How close he had come to leaving her behind in the world, all alone.

_Maybe she just needs some time._

His face was buried in his pillow with both arms underneath. He had spent the last two days alone, waiting for her to come back.

_Maybe I need to..._ he started to think.

"Shit!" He said as he raised his head up. "I forgot all about helping Rupert."

He maneuvered his hand to the controls on the console next to his bed. After pressing several keys there was a series of low beeping tones. They sounded off in bursts. Three beeps, then a pause. Three beeps, then a pause. It continued on for a few moments before static background noise radiated from the console's speakers.

"Yeah?"

"Rupert, what's the word on my Zaku's repairs?"

"It's tough going, we had to really tear apart that spare Zaku that was in the corner." Rupert hadn't been looking at the monitor at all during the conversation. Instead he was pointing at things off-screen, probably directing engineering personnel. "All these upgrades are keeping us really busy."

"Upgrades?" Seiga thought, but said aloud because his mouth was open."

"Did Barry not tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"You'll find out soon enough. He said something about how this would get your mopey ass out of your room."

"_Riiight._" Seiga said as he mashed the key that would end the transmission. _Who is he calling mopey?_

0079.07.24 _Rengaru_, Earth Orbit

The _Rengaru_ had rendezvoused with a Magellan and two Salamis cruisers after exiting the atmosphere. Each escort ship had a full squadron of Saberfish attached to their hulls, amounting to forty five in all. Eric had watched from an observation window as the ships formed a defensive perimeter around the _Rengaru_, thinking that the escort wasn't very large for protecting such a high priority project. The convoy was already well on its way to Luna II, the Federation's last stronghold in space.

Eric was worried that the Saberfish wouldn't be sufficient in protecting the ship. They hadn't proven to be reliable against Zeon's Mobile Suits at the start of the war, and now that they were far less numerable than before it was a safe bet they were still little more than an annoyance for any Mobile Suit pilot with skill. And to top it off, Captain Grant had given him strict orders that he could not launch in the RX-78. They couldn't allow the Zeon to see the experimental Mobile Suit that they were still testing this early. The _Rengaru_ itself wasn't as important as the Gundam, but it was still something that the Federation didn't want noticed yet. The escort ships were to serve as decoys, should they encounter any Zeon forces.

_ Sacrificial lambs for the wolves._ Eric thought.

Eric was eager to get to Luna II to start testing and anxious to see how the Gundam would handle in space. So far everything seemed different in space. The lack of Gravity made it difficult to walk. Even sitting in chairs required more effort than he was used to. He wondered how it would affect combat.

The _Rengaru_ came equipped with a rail system to help the crew traverse through the ship, but since the ship's construction was rushed the system was not implemented in every section. All of this was so new to him. It even had him questioning how he was going to eat and sleep.

A slight buzzing sound began to creep it's way through the hall. Low at first, but gaining volume with each passing second. Eric recognized the mosquito-like buzzing as the motor in the rail system. Someone was on one and they were moving in his direction. The sound continued to grow louder and louder until it came around the corner. A young man with glasses had his grip on the handle of the rail, the rest of his body flowed behind as the motor pulled him along.

"You're Eric Shaw, correct?" Said the man as he released the handle. The man pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose with his index finger and extended his hand.

"Yes." Eric said as he grasped the man's hand. He hadn't met many of the crew, by his own choice, and he wasn't exactly thrilled to meet any more of them. But he knew it would come eventually and he might as well be nice about it. "And you are?"

"I'm Doctor Rowe." After a brief handshake he let go of Eric's hand. "Captain Grant asked me to do some evaluations of the crew after we made it out of the atmosphere. He specifically asked for me to get yours out of the way first, so you could focus on the testing."

"What kind of evaluation?" Eric asked. He tried not to sound worried, but he wasn't sure if he could pass a psychological exam if the questions sparked an outrage of his emotions. The Federation couldn't have a test pilot who couldn't control himself.

"Just a simple physical and a basic psychological exam. Also feel free to ask anything about space life." He motioned down the hall. "Now, if you'll just follow me."

Eric hesitated for a moment. For the first time in seven months he wasn't sure what to do. It wasn't like he had any options though. Maybe he could put the evaluation off for a while. A few hours or maybe even a few days, but what good would that do? He'd still have to sit there, in one of those small rooms, answering questions about his parents, about his childhood and about his feelings. _I can do this. Can't I?_

"Sure thing, lead the way."

Natasha was laying on her bunk with her forearm over her eyes, still in uniform after her last shift. She hadn't spoken to Seiga since the other night and she felt bad about it. She had been thinking about what he said in the Mess Hall. _"I'll see you after the mission, __**probably**__._" He had said. And he did see her, but it wasn't enough to end her worrying. After seeing his Zaku, she realized how close she had come to _probably_ not seeing him again, _ever._

A knock at her door both startled and rose her hopes. She sat up, combing her fingers through her hair with one hand and wiping dried tears with the other. The knocking started again for a brief moment as she moved towards the door.

"Being a little impatient aren't you Se-" She stopped mid sentence when she realized it wasn't who she had hoped for. Barry stood in the doorway where she had hoped to see her friend.

"You're just like Seiga you know." He said with a smile. "Always taking forever to answer the door."

"Lieutenant Riggs, what are you doing here?"

"I was wondering if you had seen Seiga lately." He said as he looked down either end of the hall, as if expecting someone. "From what I can tell, he's been shut in his room since the mission." He rubbed his hand over the back of his head. "I know you guys are close, so I thought this would be a good place to start."

"I was wondering if you've seen Seiga lately. From what I can gather the guy has been shut in his room since our last mission." He rubbed his hand over the back of his head.

"I haven't seen him since the other night." Natasha replied.

"Can I ask you a favor?" Barry asked.

"Favor?" Natasha asked back, slightly confused.

"Can you tell me about Seiga?" His face was full of sincerity. "I know him as a pilot, but not as a person. And since you are the only one who really knows him, I figured this would be the best place to start."

"You may want to take a seat then. This will take a while." She said, motioning for him to enter the room. Barry hesitated momentarily before proceeding into the room.

"How much do you want to know?" Natasha asked as she sat on her bed with her pillow in her arms.

"Enough for me to get a general sense of who he is." Barry replied. He took a seat at one of the desks along the back wall, arms folded and legs crossed. "On the battlefield he's focused. Controlled. Calm."

"Seiga and I grew up on the same Colony, Quintzem, in Side 3. He lived next door to me for as long as I can remember. And he would always follow his brother around. Doing whatever he was doing, acting the same way. I always tried to keep up, but they were adventurous."

"Tell me about his brother."

"Nolan? He was Seiga's older brother. Well, half brother. Nolan's mother passed away during child birth. But they were always close."

"Where is he now?"

"I'll get to that." She said. "After finishing school, Nolan joined the Military, just like their dad did. And not long after, we followed suit."

"So their father is on active duty as well?"

"Well..." She hesitated. "Our whole district was destroyed during the rebellion in October last year." Her eyes began to tear up. "My parents and Seiga's mother were killed in the bombings. Their father fought to keep order, but his Mobile Suit was destroyed in battle."

"I'm sorry to hear that. It seems everyone has been affected by the war."

"We all took it pretty hard, but for Nolan it was a real motivator. He worked tirelessly to improve his skills as a pilot. Seiga and I handled our loss differently though." She paused for a moment, more tears poured from her eyes. "He changed. Became quieter. But I've always been there for him and he's shut everyone else out. For me, it was easier to just be there for him. To know he was going through everything that I was. In a way, he was there for me too."

"What happened to Nolan?" Barry asked with an unsure look on his face.

_ "At Loum, Nolan went MIA..."_

"I need ammo and propellant." Seiga said as the cockpit opened. His Zaku was almost in mint condition, except for the few dings on the shield. His luck was proving much better than during Operation British. "How long do you guys think you'll need?"

"Enough time for you to put down some grub." Rupert replied. "The boys have been bustin' their chops today."

"Right." Seiga looked around the hangar to see if any of the other pilots were around, but it was disappointingly empty, save for the engineers. He began eyeballing a 280mm Rocket Launcher that was on a storage rack. "Can you mount that Launcher on the left arm also?"

"Sure thing. As long as you put it to good use out there, I don't mind giving you what you need."

Seiga launched himself from the cockpit towards the small break room in the corner of the hangar. He could feel his hands trembling from a combination of fear, fatigue and guilt. Even if it wasn't face to face, he had killed hundreds of people in the last few hours. He felt terrible about it, but this was war. _It's kill or be killed._ The cliché expression drifted through his thoughts. His instructors at the Military Academy had drilled that idea into him and the whole time he was there he was certain he wouldn't need that piece of information to do his job.

But at the Academy they didn't tell you everything you needed to know, like how to evade four Saberfish that were swarming you all at once. Or that he would be part of an operation that would kill millions of people. Nothing at the Academy compared to this. Nothing compared to the real thing. And nothing compared to the guilt he felt from dropping an entire Colony onto the Earth.

His stomach growled. His body was calming down from the constant adrenaline rush he had been feeling for the past three hours and he hadn't eaten since several more before that. He opened the door to the break room and entered quickly. He pressed a few buttons near the door and a hissing sound engulfed the room as it filled with air. The room was small and was largely filled by an enormous table that was bolted down in the center with four chairs accompanying it on either side. He reached over to his right and opened a container on the wall that held dried rations for the pilots and other hangar personnel. The rations weren't much bigger than the average candy bar, but they were filling. What they did lack was taste. Seiga hadn't gotten used to eating such bland, tasteless food.

He unsealed his helmet, withdrew a packet from the container and tore the packaging open. In the first bite he consumed almost one third of it, frowning as he chewed. This wasn't the time to gripe about food, so he proceeded to scarf the rest of the bar down.

"Break time is over I guess." He muttered to himself after wiping his mouth and resealing his helmet. A few more button presses on the console next to the door and the automatic lock disengaged. Out in the hangar the engineering crew had finished moving the Rocket Launcher over to his Zaku. "Done already?"

"You're good to go." Rupert gave a thumbs up from behind his computer. "Take care of this machine."

"Will do Rupert." Seiga had already taken his place in the cockpit and closed the hatch. "Have you seen Nolan yet?"

"He hasn't checked in as far as I know, maybe he docked on another ship." Rupert said over the radio. "You know we don't hear much down here."

"I see." Seiga pushed his Zaku towards the Hangar door. "Seiga Matsuda requesting permission to leave the ship."His Zaku emerged from the red vessel slowly. The _Lutherian_ was a Chivvay Class Heavy Cruiser, the same type of ship his father served on. The Chivvay's were old, but still powerful enough to keep up with the newer Musai Class Cruisers. "Lieutenant Massey, how does it look out here?" Seiga asked as the _Lutherian_ fired a barrage of shots to keep a Magellan at range.

"They seem to be pulling back. Heavy losses on their side, looks like more than half of their fleet." Massey seemed calm and collected. Seiga wondered how he had learned to keep a level head during battle.

"Should we pursue?" He didn't actually want to continue the attack, but if they weren't ordered to stand down then he wouldn't have a choice.

"I guess so. No orders from Dozle to discontinue the attack yet." Massey launched forward, towards the faltering Federation line. He fired off his last missile, landing a direct hit on the bow of the closest Magellan.

"Seiga." Natasha came in over the communications system. "Regald has asked that all remaining pilots return to the ship. Immediately."

"Did Vice Admiral Dozle finally give to the order to withdraw?" Seiga asked, hoping that the battle was over. Hoping that he could find his brother.

"The Captain said we are being ordered to the rear of the fleet."

"Roger." He said with a sigh. _The rear?_ The group of ships Regald commanded hadn't suffered that many losses. Seiga couldn't determine what tactical advantage the fleet would gain from moving combat capable ships from the front line. It was times like these when he wished he had a better grasp on the overall battle. He couldn't see the big picture from inside his Mobile Suit. He wasn't in a position nor was it his job to see it. As a front line soldier he just had to follow orders. Had to do what his superiors asked. That wasn't enough for him though, but he didn't have time to question orders. If it was something important enough to pull back four ships, then he would just have to go with it.

As Seiga returned to the ship he decided not to waste time docking, instead he latched onto a flat section of the hull below the ship's bridge. The magnetic Locks engaged on his Zaku's feet, securing it to the hull as he hesitated to open communications with the ship.

"Natasha..."

"What is it Seiga?" He could hear it in her voice. She knew what he was going to say. She also knew that he already knew the answer to the question.

"Has my brother checked in yet?" His voice was soft. He already knew the answer even before he asked. He knew before landing on the ship. He even counted and checked all the other incoming Mobile Suits, none of them belonged to his brother. None of them had the distinct blue paint job that his brother's Zaku had.

"I'm sorry Seiga... he hasn't contacted the ship since he launched." Her voice was as soft as his.

"Seiga." Massey broke in. "Now isn't the time to mourn fallen comrades. We need to honor their memory by finishing the job we started." Massey was a charismatic speaker, his words had always given his subordinates reassurance before. "We'll win this battle and then find out what happened to Nolan. Knowing your brother, I'm sure he just got separated from us."

"You're right Lieutenant." His words were hollow. He wanted to believe what Massey was saying, but it was hard. Hard for him to believe that if his brother was alive that he wouldn't have made it back to the ship. Nolan was too good to get lost. Massey probably knew that too. Seiga unsealed his helmet and rubbed his eyes. As he watched the flashing lights blare in the distance he let his mind clear.

"All right men, listen up." Captain Regald's voice echoed throughout Seiga's cockpit. His tone was as stern as it was loud. "Sensors indicate that there is a detachment of Federation ships moving around to strike at our flank. If left unchecked, our formation might break. Leading to certain defeat." He paused for a moment to clear his throat, most certainly petting his beard as he did. "Vice Admiral Dozle has displayed his trust in our abilities by asking us to intercept and eliminate this threat. We don't have an accurate count of their numbers, but it is estimated at five vessels. At least two Magellan Battleships. It will be a hard fight, but I expect everyone to do their best. This is a grand opportunity that has been presented to us. For the glory of Zeon, we will win this fight!"

Regald's speech was nothing short of letting everyone know that if he succeeded in this mission there might be a promotion in order for him. That was something Seiga hated about the Military. The top brass were so caught up in politics that often they wouldn't see obvious solutions. But Regald was right in his speech. If the enemy did hit the flank, the formation would fall. He wouldn't let that happen, not after so many men lost their lives.

"Enemy ships are in visual range, Captain." One of the operators on board the _Lutherian_ alerted. "Confirmed five ships. Two Magellan, two Salamis and a Columbus. Sensors indicate the Columbus has launched fighters."

"Split our line to break up their fire. Send the _Searcher_ and the _Liandri_ around the starboard side. Have all ships reduce speed twenty percent and begin firing on the two Magellan first." Regald stood as he barked orders to the crew. The four ships split into two groups and began firing their main cannons at the incoming enemies. "How long until the fighters are within range of our anti-air?"

"Forty seconds"

"Launch our Mobile Suits to counter, have them engage the enemy and keep them away from the ships." Captain Regald sat and began stroking his beard. "After the fighters are dealt with tell them that they are free to proceed at Massey's discretion."

"All pilots are cleared to launch." Natasha said nervously. This was the first time their fleet had gone toe to toe with a larger force. "Orders are to eliminate the enemy fighters before they enter firing range of our ships."

Seiga detached his Zaku from the ship and shoved off gently. His foot became heavier on the thrusters are he moved away from the _Lutherian_. Soon the engines flared up brightly, propelling him at full speed. The increase in velocity kept his back flat in his seat for a few moments. The Zaku's sensors began picking up engine flashes in the distance and marking them. There weren't many fighters, only fifteen, but they were moving in a spearhead formation. There were so few that Seiga wondered if they had really beaten the Federation this badly in only two weeks.

_A few more meters..._ He thought, knowing the targeting computer couldn't manage a lock on from this range. He adjusted the cross-hair on his scope slightly and fired a rocket from his launcher, hoping that the angle of fire was direct enough for the Saberfish not to pick it up on his sensors. He lucked out and moments later the fighter exploded on impact.

"Don't get ahead of yourself Seiga, remember that you're part of this formation." Massey said as he and the rest of the _Lutherian's_ Mobile Suits moved up.

"Sorry Lieutenant." Seiga responded. He didn't even think of waiting for the rest of his unit to launch, he had always been used to his Brother's in-sync actions. The two of them together were one unit. Alone, though, he would have to fall into formation with the others. Seiga dropped speed and moved into formation on Massey's right side.

"Don't sweat it, I know you're just trying to do your best." Massey's words were comforting, at least he understood what was going on. Even if he didn't say it directly. "All right boys, enemy is in range of our ZMPs, lets light'em up!"

Several lines of text appeared on Seiga's left monitor as one of the other Zakus moved to Seiga's right side. _Targets four, five and six. At least Massey still has faith in my abilities._ Target Number Four was closest, he opened fire with his 120mm, expending thirteen rounds in a few seconds. Two flashes emitted from the fighter. Unsure as to whether or not it was disabled he fired three more rounds, landing two more shots. Quickly he lined up another shot with his launcher, knowing that he was now in range of the four 25mm guns mounted on each Saberfish directly ahead of him.

The rocket blasted towards the Saberfish in front, which happened to be Target Number Six. The fighter's formation began to break up as several of the craft were shot down. Both of Seiga's remaining targets maneuvered to avoid his rocket and readjusted course to open fire on him. He responded by tilting slightly to get maximum cover from the shield on his right shoulder and pushing through the barrage. A few rounds pierced the barrel of his Launcher that was left exposed on his left side. Deciding that it was too dangerous to hold on to it, he let it loose and pushed forward.

As he passed both fighters he turned around in one fluid motion and began to pursue the enemy. _They just flew by, like I wasn't worth stopping for. _He thought. _They must be after the ships._ He raised his weapon to fire and got off four rounds before his gun stopped firing. "Piece of... did it jam?" He asked as if all the countless sensors and readouts would tell him. He looked to the right monitor for a moment, noticing the orange warning text flashing: **WEAPON JAMMED**. _Of course._ He released the drum magazine, hoping that the jam was inside of the clip itself, and loaded his last spare. He aimed again and pulled the trigger.

The only response he got from his equipment was another warning noise and more text on the right screen saying that his weapon was jammed.

_Only one option..._ He drew his Heat Hawk and powered it on. The blade began to glow red hot moments later. The two remaining craft were seconds away from ebing in range of the _Lutherian's_ Anti Air guns, which had already opened fire prematurely. _Just what I needed._ Seiga groaned as he moved in on the closest Saberfish. He brought the Heat Hawk down in a diagonal motion, cutting through the small fighter as if he had just cut some paper. The cockpit shook violently for a moment as three rounds of Anti Air hit the right leg of his Zaku. It was clear that he couldn't give chase to the last fighter any longer, not without some sort of ranged weapon.

_Hopefully this works._ Improvising, he arched the Zaku's right arm back and aimed as best he could managed before flinging the Heat Hawk over the ever increasing distance between the two craft. It left the Zaku's grasp spinning forward at a high velocity, enough that it would probably pierce through a battleship's hull. As the projectile neared the Saberfish everything felt as if it were in slow motion. The end result of this small battle could change drastically if he missed. One of the ships, the _Javad_ or _Lutherian,_ could be destroyed as a result of his failure. Even though the Saberfish was outclassed by Mobile Suits, they still had enough firepower to take out a ship with well placed missiles.

The top of the Heat Hawk's blade chipped at on of the engine flaps and continued to spin forward, making small incisions as it overtook the craft. But the fighter continued on for a moment. _It wasn't enough?_ He asked himself. As the Saberfish closed in on the _Javad_ it did not adjust course to make an attack run. Instead it continued forward, heading off into the blackness of space.

"Seiga!" Wong called out. "Look!"

The two Magellan Battleships fired a constant barrage from their Mega Particle Cannons at the _Searcher_. Several shots had already torn holes into the Mobile Suit Bay nad effectively destroyed the Komusai that was docked in the nose section of the ship. The _Searcher _was firing wave after wave of missiles, most likely emptying its payload, in an attempt to take out one of the battleships. Missiles fired out of the six launch tubes as rapidly as they could be loaded. The Salamis that accompanied the two battleships shielded them from several missiles. The _Liandri _had fared slightly better, only taking damage to the exposed fin of the Komusai.

"Shit. It looks like they concentrated the majority of their forces on breaking one pincer." Massey came in over the comm. His voice gave the slightest hint of agitation, breaking his ever calm demeanor. "Matsuda, Wong. You two take out that Salamis that is blocking the _Javad._ Everyone else is with me."

"Roger. Wong, any spare weapons on you?" Seiga asked as he checked over his equipment.

"I just have this useless Heat Hawk and one grenade." Wong said as he tossed the Heat Hawk over to Seiga. "I'm not sure what you'll be able to do with it against a Salamis. You want the grenade too?"

"Yeah, I'll make due somehow." He swooped by Wong's Zaku, grabbing the MIP-B6 grenade as he rushed off towards the Salamis cruiser. The enemy ship had positioned itself in front of the _Javad_, acting as a blockade. _How am I going to make this work?_ He asked himself. Heat Hawks were great for cutting things, but against a ship it seemed like he would be biting off more than he could chew.

_'A great pilot can tackle any situation with the tools available to him, you just have to improvise.'_ It had been something that Nolan always said. But how that applied to taking out a light cruiser with just a Heat Hawk and a single grenade, he would never know. He also couldn't overlook the fact that Wong was there also.

"Wong, try to take out some of the AA guns while I draw their fire."

Aurelio Wong wasn't the best pilot, but he followed instructions well. That was probably why Massey trusted him so much. Wong fired several three round bursts into the Salamis cruiser, disabling several of the Anti-Air weapons as Seiga moved in. As Seiga got close he tossed the grenade into the rear of the Salamis, hitting the engines. Just before slipping away he hurled the Heat Hawk as well, smashing the Salamis' bridge. The _Javad_ took notice and moved in to finish off the enemy cruiser. Firing its mega particle cannons over and over until the Salamis ceased to function.

Seiga turned to see how the rest of the fleet was holding up. There were three rather large explosions in the distance, too big to be from a Mobile Suit. "_Javad,_ status report?"

"_Searcher _and _Liandri_ have been destroyed."

"What?"

"Repeat, _Searcher _and _Liandri _have been destroyed..."

"Everyone lost friends at Loum... Everyone loses friends in war. But for Seiga, losing his brother was like losing piece of himself. Which happened to be one of the last pieces left."

"He still has you." Barry stated. "You're the only one he has left right?"

"We have each other."

"Then go talk to him. I'm sure he wants to see you."

"I just don't know what to say. Its selfish for me to think this way, but he almost died. If I lost him I would have nothing left..."

"I need you to go see him. Seiga is one of the best pilots we have _and_ my wingman. I can't have him moping around. He needs you and you need him. It's that easy." Barry stood and made his way to the door, stopping just short of exiting the room. He looked back at Natasha, who still had tears running down her face. "I can see you care for him, he cares about you too, both of you can't stay like this. You need to work it out."

_ Barry vanished into the hallway as the door closed behind him._

0079.07.24 Vice Admiral Dozle's Office, Solomon

"You'll be stationed near Luna II. We need to keep an eye on the Federation's movements. I have faith that you'll be cautious and not do anything foolish like assaulting them head on."

"So you're putting me on recon work, Vice Admiral?" Regald frowned. Reconnaissance was important, but he believed that the soldiers he commanded weren't cut out for that type of work. "You do remember that my fleet is not specialized in reconnaissance?"

"It'll only be for a few weeks, Captain." Dozle Zabi leaned back in his chair, propping his feet up on the desk. His long face was decorated with a scar that stretched across the left side of his chin. His hair was combed back and his sideburns were thick. His looks fit his role perfect. His tall, broad stature allowed him to tower over nearly every man in existence. Perfect for commanding troops. "We received a report from a group of Musai that a ship exited the Earth's atmosphere. After tracking the flight path it is believed the ship launched from South America."

"So you think it's from Jaburo?" Regald asked as he propped his right leg on his left knee.

"Yes. There aren't many other places capable of launching ships in that region."

"Is it some sort of new type of ship?"

"Possibly, the Musai were too far away to get an accurate silhouette, though it was too big to be a Salamis."

"And you're sure it wasn't just a Magellan?"

"It could be, but it doesn't make much sense to launch a lone Magellan into space while we have such vast numbers on the ground. If the Federation is testing some sort of new Battleship, we need to get some kind of idea as to what it is capable of. I'd like to think we're just being overly cautious. We-"

"I understand, Vice Admiral Dozle. About our other subject of business though?"

"Yes, about that." He placed his feet back on the floor as he leaned forward to pick up a remote. He pointed it to a monitor on the wall and pressed a button. The image of two Musai Cruisers in a docking bay flashed on the screen. "These two ships, the _Katherine_ and the _Noble Desert_, will be transferred to your command."

"Excellent." Regald's frown turned into a strange expression that might be interpreted as a smile. "Thank you, Dozle Zabi.

"Just be more careful with these ships, Captain Regald."

Seiga opened the door, half excited and half nervous to see Natasha. Instead of the tears she wore last visit, she had a smile on her face. He motioned her into the room without saying a word.

"Have a seat." _That's all I can say?_ He could feel his heart beating fast. She sat down on the bed and he sat next to her. "How have-"

"I'm sorry I didn't come by sooner." She was looking at the floor, her smile had faded away. "I'm sorry about last time."

"It's okay." Seiga said.

"I just didn't know what to say." Those same tears began forming in her eyes. "Even now, I don't know what to say. I almost lost you. You're the only person I have left."

"You don't have to say anything." Seiga scooted closer to her and placed his arm around her shoulder. "I'm here for you, just as you've been here for me." She rested her head on his shoulder as she began sobbing. He hadn't seen Natasha cry this much since she found out that her parents were killed. He didn't like seeing her like this. "I'm not going anywhere."

_She shouldn't have to suffer like this. Worrying about me. This can't happen again. I won't LET this happen again._

_ How many more questions can this guy possibly ask?_ Eric asked himself. He was getting impatient. He didn't like doctors and he especially didn't like psychiatrists. Even more so when they were examining him as if he was a nut job.

"Now, I want to learn a bit more about your history. Your life before the military, what was it like?" Asked Doctor Rowe.

"I lived with my parents and went to school like most other teenagers. Is there any point to his?" Eric said in a hurried voice. _I'm tired of this, I just want to get back to work._

"I suppose I have enough for now. You're free to go." Doctor Rowe was still writing on his notepad. The entire exam had gone on for hours. Eric had blood taken, x-rays and even a PET scan.

_ This is more than just a typical evaluation._ Eric thought. _You don't scan someone's brain for no reason. _He had hoped that from the lack of change in Doctor Rowe's tone and expression that he didn't pick up on anything. Eric stood from the chair that he had been awkwardly attempting to sit on for the last half hour.

"I'll be on my way then." Eric said while opening the door. He stood outside for a moment as if he was going to say something, but thought better of it and moved on.

After waiting for the sound of the rail system's motor to fade in the distance, Doctor Rowe picked up the receiver from the wall mount. "Tell Captain Grant that I need to speak with him."

Eric had retreated to his room, which was surprisingly large considering the amount of people on the ship. _Must be one of the perks for being a pilot._ He wondered what other special treatment he would get, but then remembered the extensive exams that were done earlier. _They might be using this room to watch me._ He took a quick glance around the room, looking for anything that looked like a camera.

Nothing out of the ordinary. A bed, which seemed like a queen sized, was hunkered down in a corner. A table with several chairs, not that he'd need more than one, resided along the wall across from the bed. There were also a few lockers along the same wall as the table as well as a doorway leading to a small bathroom directly across from the entrance.

_Maybe I'm just being paranoid._ He hadn't said anything to the doctor during the psychological exam that made him sound crazy. _As long as I keep a level head, I'm sure they won't do anything._

Eric sat down at the desk hidden away in the corner directly to the left of the door. He flicked the monitor on and inserted a data disk, filling the screen with text about the RX-78. He perused through the text until he reached the test schedule. Weeks of tests had been planned out for their stay at Luna II, though a lot of the tests for the the new ship, the _Rengaru_. He scanned up through the end of the schedule and found what he was looking for. The date for the Mock Combat Testing.

Doctor Rowe was still looking over several pages of results when Owen Grant entered the room. Doctor Rowe's office was small. It didn't even have a desk. Instead he used the end of a counter as such. Captain Grant took a seat next to him.

"So what's the word?" He asked.

"Well, I completed my evaluation of Ensign Shaw. During the psychological portion of the exam he answered every question normally. It doesn't seem that there is anything wrong with him at first glance." Doctor Rowe paused as he began flipping through pages on his clipboard.

"Then what seems to be the issue?"

"I detected a slight anger in his tone, not with any kind of instrument of course, but he sounded angry the entire exam."

"Well he does seem eager to run more simulations. He's a very dedicated pilot from the looks of it."

"Yes, he did seem a bit anxious to get out of Sick-bay. I did a PET scan..."

"PET scan?"

"I scanned his brain." Rowe replied as he shuffled the test results. "I found large levels of Epinephrine, which is produced from the Adrenal Glands when someone is experiencing anger." Rowe paused again to think of how to word his next statement. "Ensign Shaw, has... some sort of underlying chronic anger. I couldn't determine where it stemmed from."

"Do you think this might affect his ability as a pilot?"

"There's no way to say for sure. But in my personal opinion it seems likely." Rowe adjusted his glasses as he handed the clipboard to Captain Grant. "What do you intend to do Captain?"

"Nothing." Captain Grant pulled the sheets of paper from the clipboard and began tearing them in half. "For now we'll do nothing."

Seiga sat backward in his chair, his head rested on his forearms that lay across the top. Hours had passed since Natasha had come to talk with him. She had been so upset and worried about him that she cried herself to sleep not long after she arrived. It was good for both of them to talk about what happened and he hoped that she could rest easy now that they did.

Seiga stood up and moved to his locker. He put on his uniform and reached for the door. He looked back at Natasha before. In her sleep she looked so calm and peaceful, despite that she had tear smeared makeup down her cheeks. He opened the door. Surprisingly Wong was standing right outside with his hand raised up as if he was about to knock. His eyes lit up as a smile stretched across his face.

_ Why did he have to show up now?_

"Finally did the deed, eh Seiga?" He was almost giggling at this point.

"It's not like that." Seiga sighed.

"It is good to see all my wisdom has helped you out." He let out a slight laugh. "Who is the next lucky lady, you old dog?"

"Whatever." Seiga wondered what kind of 'wisdom' Wong could share. He had never even seen Wong with a woman, much less gotten any advice from him. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Apparently we got some new assignment. That and a few new ships in our fleet." He held up two fingers in a _peace _sign. "Two Musai Cruisers."

"What kind of assignment?" Seiga said sounding concerned. _We just finished an assignment. The Federation doesn't have that many ships, is this some sort of clean up mission?_

"Massey said it was some bullshit recon assignment." He started walking down the hall. "He didn't tell me much, but you know Massey, if he doesn't like something he'll tell everyone about it."

"Do we need to go to the Briefing Room?" Seiga asked as Wong continued down the hall. "Where are you going?"

"To get some lunch. Seeing as how you're busy though, I'll just go by myself."

_Sometimes that guy just doesn't get it._ Seiga moved the opposite direction, heading for the Hangar Bay. He remembered that he promised to help fix up his Zaku, but hadn't made good on the agreement. _Rupert is probably pissed._

_ When he entered the Hangar there were three more Zakus than usual. Bringing the Lutherian's Mobile Suit count to seven. Seiga wondered if they were back ups or if new pilots were assigned to the ship. He spotted Rupert between both of the blue R1s and kicked off toward him._

0079.07.24 1342 Hours _Lutherian_, Hangar Bay

In the hangar, the two blue Zakus stood apart from the rest. Each had several extra verniers, small thrusters, mounted on the legs and back allowing for faster movement and more maneuverability. The armor was thicker than that of the other Zakus as well. The two R1s that Captain Regald had secured were test models that were retrofitted into the final design, which fixed a few issues the Mobile Suit had regarding the engine stability and fuel supply.

_The MS-06R-1A High Mobility Type, incredible._ Seiga thought as he looked at the two machines. He already had a taste of this model's potential, but he wondered if he could master such a powerful Suit.

Three mechanics were welding armor patches onto his Mobile Suit. The hole in his Zaku's chest, which was big enough for a person to crawl through, was now sealed shut and the jagged edges had been ground smooth. The left shoulder pauldron had been replaced by a spare, which was painted a slightly different shade of blue.

Rupert stood at the foot of the gigantic machine, which towered above everything at nearly sixty feet tall. As Seiga approached he could hear Rupert shouting to the other mechanics, one of which had lifted his welding helmet and was looking intently at him.

"And after you get that hole in the armor patched up we need to get back to work on that Hawk. I want it ready for testing in two days." Rupert took notice of his subordinate watching Seiga. He turned and gestured him over. "There you are. Let me fill you in on what we've been doing here.

Seiga landed next to Rupert and saluted. He didn't need to salute him, but he respected the man enough to show it. As he dropped his hand he took notice of the two Heat Hawks next to his Zaku. "What are you going to do with those?"

"I'll show you the schematics in a few minutes, but first lets take a look at what we did on the Zaku." He pointed to the Zaku's backpack. "We've increased the output of the thrusters and..." He pointed to two small cylinders attached to the backpack. "We've also added two propellant cartridges."

"So, you've increased the speed and the length at which I can operate?" Seiga kicked off toward the cockpit. "That seems pretty useful."

"The increase in speed will burn propellant faster. So in reality you aren't gaining much in operation time if you are pushing the speed, but if you keep the throttle low you could almost double your time away from the ship."

"Anything else?" Seiga asked as he opened the cockpit of the Zaku.

"Barry said he was running some calculations to give you some more swinging power with the right arm." Rupert scratched his head. "How that guy ended up as a pilot and not an engineer boggles my mind."

"Why does he want to increase the swinging power on my Zaku?"

"That schematic I mentioned earlier is for an upgraded Heat Hawk. It'll have more mass than the regular ones, but don't worry yourself about it. Once it's completed I'll let you test it out."

0079.07.25 0903 Hours _Lutherian,_ En Route to Luna II

The _Lutherian _and _Javad_ departed from Solomon, followed shortly by the two new ships that complimented Regald's fleet, the _Katherine_ and _Noble Desert_. The two additional Musai ships looked as if they had just rolled out of the factory, especially compared to the battle scarred _Javad_. Even the _Lutherian_ was covered with areas that were charred black from battle. The _Noble Desert_ was a light shade of brown, whereas the _Katherine_ was the standard dark green color that most Musai Cruisers carried. The fleet was moving in a double line formation with the _Lutherian _and _Javad _in the rear.

Captain Regald was in his cabin, his chair turned around so he could see the portrait of his son that decorated the wall. It had been more than seven months since he died and Regald still hadn't shown much in terms of remorse. He was a stoic man, hardly ever showing any sign of weakness. His face was rigid, almost like stone. His eyes were fixed on the painting. To him it seemed like an eternity since he had last seen his son. The portrait wasn't there for comfort though, he had it hung there as a reminder of his failure.

The door to his cabin slid open, "It's going to be a long trip to Luna II if you keep staring at that painting."

"Lieutenant Commander Massey, please come in." Captain Regald spun his chair around to face him.

"I just stopped by to let you know that all of the Mobile Suits are combat ready and waiting on your orders, sir."

"And that pilot, Ensign Matsuda. How is he holding up?"

"He seems to be doing all right. From what I hear he actually left him room quite a bit after we arrived at Solomon." Massey drew a sheet of paper from his pocket. "Apparently Rupert had some extra work done on some of the Mobile Suits. Here is a list of supplies that he procured from Solomon while we were there."

0079.07.25 _Rengaru, _Two Days From Luna II

The alarm went off shortly before an explosion shook the ship. Eric was up on his feet in less than two seconds, heading for his locker than contained his pilot suit. _An enemy attack?_ He headed down several corridors until he finally reached the Hangar. "What's the situation out there?"

"Two Musai and a few Zaku have been chasing us for awhile now." An engineer responded. "Just long range missile attacks so far, nothing too serious."

"I'm going out in the Gundam, why weren't we on alert status before now?" Eric yelled as he pushed off toward the RX-78-1. He sat inside and strapped himself in. It was almost like home for him. He'd spent more time in this chair in the last month than he did in a bed. After flipping a few switches to open communications he calmly requested permission to leave the ship. "Ensign Shaw, requesting permission to engage the enemy when they come into range."

On the bridge Captain Grant was listening with a slight excitement. It had only been ninety-one seconds since the missile had shaken the ship and Eric was already waiting to launch. "Tell Ensign Shaw that he must wait for the escort ships to launch fighters before I let him loose."

"But Captain, our orders were to not let the enemy see the Mobile Suit unless it was absolutely necessary." One of the operators protested.

"I've taken that into consideration. We'll just have to make sure to kill them all before they can report anything back. Begin Minovsky Particle dispersion in twenty seconds." He readjusted his hat. "Let the escort ships know that we're turning around for an assault."

"Captain?" Several of the operators said, sounding confused.

"Just think of this as our first combat test. Alert the crew." A grin stretched across his face as several operators began alerting the crew and escort ships. "How long until we're in range for the main guns?"

"Fifty seconds, Captain."

Eric waited patiently in the RX-78-1's cockpit. If allowed to launch, this would mark the first live combat for him in the Federation's Mobile Suit. He knew it wouldn't be the same as using a captured Zaku, months of combat simulations told him that. The Zaku was a sluggish machine, big and bulky. The Gundam was slim and powerful. It moved with a sort of grace.

"Permission to launch has been granted, Ensign Shaw. Please move to the catapult." An operator said through his comm system.

The Gundam came to life in an instant after Eric flipped a few switches, walking along the Hangar Bay to the catapult. Eric had never used the catapult and wondered if it was just a slow acceleration that saved propellant. _Let's see what this baby can do._

The thrust given to him by the catapult kept him glued to his seat for a solid ten seconds and before he realized it, he was two hundred meters from the _Rengaru_ and the three escort ships. Ahead of him were the three squadrons of Saberfish and the two enemy Musai cruisers. Eric pushed hard on the engine throttle, allowing the Gundam to soar past the Saberfish.

"Hey kid." A voice rang out over the comm. "Don't get too far out. There's at least eight Zekes out there."

"Eight?" Eric said. "I thought Musai could only carry three Mobile Suits."

"You've got a lot to learn, here they come!"

Eric's sensors picked up several targets approaching fast. He lined up a shot with his beam rifle and fired. The bolt tore past the Zaku, snagging its right arm and taking it with it. "Shit, needs to be calibrated." He fired again, adjusting his aim to correct the sighting error. The bolt slammed through the Zaku's chest, causing it to explode.

The other Zakus were now close enough to open fire on him. Both sides fired a barrage of bullets and missiles, causing explosions to ripple throughout the battlefield. Eric evaded two Zakus as he keyed in calibrations for his scope. He turned and fired a shot that ripped the closest pursuer in half, just below the cockpit. It continued to fire at him as it spun out of control, disregarding the damage it had just taken.

"Crazy bastard!" Eric clenched his teeth as he charged the damaged Zaku, slamming it with his shield. The force of the blow crushed the Zaku's chest in and the Mobile Suit went silent. A brief image of a mangled body, crushed by bent in metal, flashed through his mind. The other Zaku charged at him, Heat Hawk drawn for a melee attack. Eric leaned sideways and fired the thrusters enough to dodge the Zaku's swing. After locking on he fired a barrage from the two 60mm Vulcan Cannons hidden in the Gundam's head.

The _Rengaru_ moved into range of the two Musai, firing Anti Air at a few swarming Mobile Suits. The two cannons located on the two shield-like modules on either side of the ship began charging up. All four barrels fired bolts of Mega Particles at the Musai to its right. Three of the bolts tore through the ship, one hitting directly on the Bridge. The cannons began alternating shots between themselves, keeping a constant barrage on the last Musai Cruiser.

Eric fired another bolt from his Beam Rifle at the last remaining Zaku. It clipped the left arm as the clunker tried to dodge the shot. _Dodge this._ Eric moved the Beam Rifle to the Gundam's left hand and reached for one of the cylinders sticking out of the top of the backpack. The top of the cylinder flashed and a beam extended about forty feet. He rushed the Zaku, catching it in just a few seconds. He fired a shot from his Beam Rifle, decapitating the machine before finally jabbing the Beam Saber into the Zaku's cockpit.

Eric turned to see that both Musai had been destroyed. _With these new weapons, the Federation will finally be able to fight back against the Zeon._ He did a quick survey of the battle. Ten Zakus had either been immobilized or completely eradicated, four of which he had dealt with himself. His sensors counted fifteen Saberfish still flying in formation, out of the original eighteen. _Maybe the Saberfish aren't useless._

"Ensign Shaw, return to the ship immediately."

"Roger that, heading back now." Eric replied. He looked over several screens to check data. He had only used about half of the energy stored in the Beam Rifle, considering he had fired eleven shots, the enery supply seemed to meet his standards.

"Hey kid, nice work out there." It was the same voice as before. Eric assumed the guy was the commander of the fighters. "I'll see you on the ship."

"I'm looking forward to it." Eric took one last glance at the wreckage that littered the area before heading into the _Rengaru's_ hangar. _I'm missing something._

0079.07.25 Bridge of the _Lutherian_

"Captain." Natasha said as she held her headset tight against her ear. "We're receiving a distress signal from the two Musai that were following the target. Confirmation that the Federation has a new type of ship."

"Helmsman, how far are we away from them?" Yelled Captain Regald.

"It would take roughly twenty hours to reach them at full speed, Captain." Replied Vaughn. "And we'd use up most of our propellant keeping that speed."

"There's something else Captain." Natasha yelled as she turned to face him. "They said the Federation launched a Mobile Suit."

"A captured Zaku?" Regald slammed his fist down onto the arm rest of his chair. "What is the delay time on these transmissions?"

"Can't confirm the Mobile Suit, the transmission cut off after mentioning it." Natasha replied frantically. "The delay is about an hour."

"Try restoring communications, get Massey in here." Regald ordered. "They might have moved out of the area the Minovsky Particle dispersion."

A short silence consumed the room as Natasha changed through several communication channels, hoping to find the two Musai cruisers calling for assistance still. The door to Regald's left slid open and Massey entered. He had a hurried look on his face, as if he had just sprinted a mile to get here.

"There's no response, Captain." Natasha stated, still pressing her headset tightly against her ear.

"What is it Captain?" Massey asked with what little breath he had left.

"Are the engineers done attaching the propellant tanks to those Zakus?" Captain Regald asked in a serious tone, one that Natasha had only heard when the Captain was giving orders after his son died.

"I believe they've just finished, but we only have two Zakus equipped with them."

"Send them out, we need to know what happened to those ships and we need to know _now._" Regald ordered.

"Ships?" Massey asked confused.

"Captain, even with the propellant tanks they will not be able to make it back to the ship." One of the operators argued. "They would be stranded out there for hours until we caught up."

_Why is the Captain so hellbent on sending someone out there?_ Natasha asked herself. She was watching the conversation attentively, worried about what Regald's decision would be. Regald wasn't know to give reckless orders and sending pilots out, leaving them stranded, would probably top the list easily.

Static began blaring through Natasha's headset. It was loud at first then fading out of existence. Among the static there was a faint voice that spoke so low that she could barely make out anything that was said. "Captain, I'm getting something."

Massey moved next to her, picking up a second headset. "Can you play it again?"

"Yes, I'll try increasing the volume. It was so quiet I could barely hear anything." Natasha started up a recording of the transmission.

"I couldn't understand any of that, too much static." Massey said after hearing the recording.

"I understood a few words this time." She said as she started the the transmission over. "New ship and something about a beam. Maybe the new Federation Ship has a special type of beam weapon?"

"What about the source? Can you identify if it is from one of the Musai?" Regald asked as he rested his head on his fist.

"It's too weak to be from a ship. I'm guessing that it's coming from a Zaku." She looked over the instrument panel in front of her, hoping that something would confirm her theory. She read over each instrument's data carefully until what she was looking for caught her attention. "The signal originated from an area three kilometers away from where the distress signal came from."

"Is it moving?" Regald pulled at his beard. "Is it breaking away from Earth's gravity? Someone give me an estimated trajectory."

"It appears to be moving on what could be an intercept course." Vaughn spoke up.

"ETA?"

"If we stay on our current course: Thirteen Hours."

Regald was still stroking his beard. Natasha wondered if he still planned on sending out Seiga and Barry. There was no guarantee that anyone was still alive out there. Nothing showed that the Zaku wasn't just coincidentally drifting through space in the right direction. Nothing to show that it was even able to sustain life support for the pilot long enough for them to find him.

"Massey, would the two R1s be able to retrieve the Zaku that sent that transmission?" Regald asked as he interlocked his fingers.

"Captain, I don't think that is the most prudent choi-"

_ "Just answer the question." Regald was standing now, clenching his fists. "If there is a soldier out there who could use our help, I'm not willing to leave him out there to die!"_

0079.07.25 _Rengaru_, en route to Luna II

Eric watched as the emergency nets caught and slowed the Saberfish to a halt. The pilot hopped out and kicked off toward him. When the Hangar Bay doors shut and sealed he removed his helmet, as did Eric. The Saberfish pilot was probably in his early thirties. His hair was dark with a few noticeable grey hairs showing.

"You did good out there for your first time in space." He said as he landed next to Eric. "I'm Lieutenant Vince Lamrok, commanding officer of the Saberfish squadrons assigned to protect the _Rengaru_."

"Ensign Eric Shaw." He extended his hand, something he hadn't done for any of the crew on the ship. He felt that he had to show this man more respect than anyone else he'd met in the last month. To go out on the battlefield with a disadvantage and stay confident like he was, that was something Eric admired. "Your pilots did well out there, for being in Saberfish."

"What's wrong with Saberfish?" Vince asked, sounding slightly offended.

"Mobile Suits clearly outperform them. From what we heard back on Earth, the Saberfish proved utterly ineffective against the Zaku at the start of the war and that is why we were pushed so hard."

"That's a common misconception." Vince said. "The Saberfish can go toe to toe with a Zaku and come out on top. It all comes down to a matter of skill. Regardless, it seems like this new type of Mobile Suit is far more powerful than any Zaku, even if it is only in the testing stages."

"Yeah, the Gundam." Eric agreed. "The Gundam will show the spacenoids that they can't do what they want. They can't drop an entire colony onto the Earth without consequences."

"Spacenoids, eh?" Vince had a distraught look on his face now. "Is that why you fight?"

"I fight because its all I have left. The Zeon took everything else away."

"I see."

0079.07.25 Somewhere in space

"How much longer until we are close enough to start the retrieval operation?" Regald asked. Just an hour ago the ship's laser scopes picked up the silhouette of a Zaku drifting through space. It was even on a similar course as the one predicted by the crew. "I want this done as soon as possible."

"We can send out Riggs and Matsuda now." Massey replied. He had been almost as impatient as Captain Regald, but not to the point of sending out two pilots several hours ago to drift in space along with what could be a derelict Zaku. "I'd say they could make the entire trip in about thirty minutes now."

"Send them out. I already feel terrible for leaving him out there this long." Regald said with his head resting on his fist. "Let's just hope he is still alive..."

"Lieutenant Riggs, Ensign Matsuda." The communications officer relayed. "Orders to launch confirmed, proceed on retrieval mission."

0079.07.26 _Rengaru_, docked at Luna II

Eric was still feeling satisfied from yesterday's combat. It had been several months since he had fought in a real battle. Back when he was still with his unit in Australia. The familiar feeling of adrenaline pumping through his veins made him feel alive. But what was even better for him was the fact that he had killed several Spacenoids on their own terms. Out here in space. It was the first step for him to overcome his enemy. To get his revenge.

Every battle was a chance for him to relieve some of the anger that built up inside him. An anger so deep that it was never enough to kill just a few Zeon. He always wanted more. The rage had become an unending hunger that was eating his soul from the inside out.

Eric appreciated that Captain Grant was almost as eager as he was to get the testing phase over with. _No doubt the data collected from yesterday's skirmish will push the testing schedule forward._ He thought. Even if there was some sort of consequences for their ship participating in the battle, responsibility would fall to the Captain and he would be free to continue piloting the Gundam. But it seemed like everyone was pleased with the results of the battle. Losses were minimal and the battle was over in a short amount of time that fatigue was minimized as well.

When they first exited the Earth's atmosphere, the Captain had informed him that everyone would be transferred into a real military unit and not just get stuck doing tech tests for the rest of the war. At this point the Federation needed every man and woman willing to fight, even though they did outnumber the Zeon soldiers by far.

But for now he would have to settle for checking, double checking and then triple checking data. Over and over again. He was sitting at the desk in quarters staring at the computer's monitor. He was looking at yesterday's battle data, trying to figure out what he had overlooked. All the footage looked good; All the enemy Mobile Suits and ships were destroyed or disabled, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that someone was calling out for help during the battle.

_Time for the triple check. Where to start?_

0079.07.28 _Lutherian,_ Edge of Luna II's Defensive Zone

Several days had passed since the distress signals were picked up on communications and rumors were already flying around the ship. It didn't help that the pilot of the damaged Zaku had been mumbling in his sleep about an enemy Mobile Suit. It almost seemed like a miracle that the man known as Jerry Langley had survived. His Mobile Suit had been torn in half and what was left was shot up so much that the anything barely functioned.

Captain Regald kept everyone in the dark about Langley's debriefing, even Massey. Seiga wondered why everything was so hush-hush. He wondered even more why they assigned Langley the only spare Zaku in the fleet. Barry hadn't shared his opinion on the matter yet, but Seiga almost knew for certain that he felt the same way. _If what that guy knows is so important, why do we not send him back to Solomon?_

"I hear that new guy had a breakdown after he got taken out by a Federation Mobile Suit." Seiga overheard someone say at the table behind him. The Mess Hall got quieter as more people started to listen. "He even said it had the firepower of a warship."

_A warship?_ Seiga thought as he put down his fork. _Could a Mobile Suit really have that kind of power?_ He turned to see who was talking only to see a face he didn't quite recognize. It was one of the new crew members that had been transferred to the ship at Solomon. Seiga knew he was a pilot, but couldn't recall the name.

"I bet it's a bunch of bull shit though." The pilot said with a chuckle. "He probably just made it all up because of how bad his Zaku looked."

A few of the guys sitting at his table joined in on the laughter. More faces Seiga didn't recognize. They were all younger than him, probably fresh out of training.

"If you ask me, I think he just got smacked around by some loser Saberfish, everyone knows the Federation doesn't have any Mobile Suits."

"Do you really think he would lie about something like that?" Seiga slammed his fist down on the table as he stood and turned. "You really doubt your comrades that much?"

"Whoa, settle down man. I'm just saying it seems a bit far fetched for a Mobile Suit to have that kind of firepower." A big grin stretched across the pilot's face. "And aren't you Ensign Matsuda? I heard you got your ass whipped in the last battle, by a Saberfish no less."

Seiga kicked off the bench, charging the young pilot. He grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him up. Everyone in the Mess Hall was silent now, watching as the two pilots stared each other down.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Seiga spat.

"Rex Carter." The pilot's grin was still there. "You might want to think about letting me go too. You don't want my father to hear about this little incident, do you?"

"Did he say Carter?" Someone in the crowd whispered. "That guy is Rear Admiral Carter's son."

"You're pathetic." Seiga said as he pushed Rex away. He knew he only lost control for a moment, but he didn't want it to happen again. "I'm out of here."

"At least I won't get destroyed by some Saberfish." Rex snapped as Seiga moved toward the exit. "You might as well quit being a pilot before you get yourself killed."

Seiga turned around and went straight for Rex. He tackled him into one of the tables and began throwing a few punches. The two other young men that were at Rex's table jumped in, tearing Seiga off of Rex and swinging at him. A swift kick to the abdominal region sent one into the wall, but the other came from behind and grabbed him.

"You think you're tough shit?" Rex said as he got up. Blood trickled down from his lip. He walked up to Seiga and gave him a swift uppercut to the jaw. Seiga's head went back, smashing the guy holding him in the face. Ignoring the pain Seiga grabbed Rex's collar again. He jabbed him once, hitting the boy in the eye. There was no grin on his face now. He jabbed again, landing a blow to the same spot. Seiga drew his arm back. _One more time. Just one more. I'm not going to die out here._

"Cut it out!" Massey yelled from the doorway.

"What do you think you were doing out there, Matsuda?" Massey asked through a small slit in the door to Seiga's cell. "I expect more from you. You're supposed to set an example for the new pilots."

"I'm sorry, sir." Seiga said meekly. "I just let what he said get to me."

"How do you expect to keep control in battle if someone taunts you?" Massey yelled. All Seiga could see of his commanding officer was the man's eyes. His eyes that had such a sharp gaze. "If you really don't want to die in this war, then you need to learn to keep control of yourself."

"You're right."

"The Captain said you had to spend two days in here." Massey's tone changed. It was lighter, less commanding. "We'll in position at Luna II by then."

"Thanks." Seiga said, his voice still low. He was disappointed with his actions and everything Massey said was correct. How could he expect to live through the war if he couldn't stay calm and collected. It would be something that he would have to work on.

"You sure did beat the shit out of that guy though." Massey said. He was no longer peering through the slit in the door, but Seiga knew he was smiling. "From what I hear, he deserved it. Just don't let it happen again."

_Right._

0079.08.01 Luna II

Eric was rather glad to finally be on Luna II. It meant that the final testing for the RX-78 would begin, but even more important to him was that it meant he was closer to seeing more combat. _Not much longer,_ he thought. The only thing he didn't like was that there was another test pilot here at Luna II. A second pilot, but as far as he could tell there was no second Gundam.

Luna II's accommodations weren't quite as nice as the _Rengaru's_, but as a pilot he still got his own room. It was smaller than the one on the ship and the walls showed a lot of wear. The bed was a single, but it wasn't like he would have any company here anyway and as far as he knew he would still be assigned to the _Rengaru_ when they left here.

Eric was sitting at the desk in his new room, realizing more and more that his chair was incredibly uncomfortable. _Why do they like wooden furniture out here?_ The screen in front of him displayed page after page of data collected from the other test pilot's simulations. The fact that there was this much data and no Mobile Suit other than the one they brought with them made Eric think. There were even pages he came across that documented live-fire exercises, but it wasn't from the RX-78.

"Hey Eric, I'm going to the Mess. Want to tag along?" A muffled voice came from the hallway.

"I'm fine right now." Eric replied. "Maybe another time Vince."

Eric wasn't sure how he felt about being chummy with someone who had lived in space their entire life, but Vince Lamrok seemed like a stand up guy. Not like the Zeon at all. He never thought he would be friends with anyone from space. Not after what happened to his family and his unit back in Australia.

_ Never in his wildest dreams did he think people were capable of doing those things._

0079.03.18 Australia

"What's that coming down in the sky?" Jeremy asked as he pointed to a red object falling through the dusk backdrop. He was standing on top of the Type 61's gun turret. "You think it's another Zeon attack?"

"Look there's more of them!" Logan shouted.

"It looks like their landing on the Gulf." Eric said. He knew the objects weren't big enough to be another Colony drop and the Antarctic Treaty prohibited Zeon from dropping any more of them onto the planet. _If only they had some sort of treaty like that in place when the war started._

"It looks like one of them is veering off course." Jeremy said. "Should we roll over there and see what's up?"

"I don't know man." Logan said. "You think our tank will do much against one of those Mobile Suits."

"It doesn't look like they'll have a smooth landing." Eric said as he noticed the object spinning as it descended. "I'm with Jeremy, let's go check it out."

He hopped down into the driver's cabin and slowly turned the tank toward the falling object. He could hear Logan and Jeremy follow suit, closing the turret hatch behind them. Eric didn't really like how the Type 61 tank was designed, being cut off from his friends while he was stuck driving. At least they could talk over the radio.

"Where do you think it'll touch down?" Logan asked.

"Looks like the Tanami Desert." Jeremy said as he looked through the scopes. "You hear that Eric, you might want to go a bit more to the east."

"Roger."

"Can you believe this shit. First they drop a colony here, then they have the audacity to land invasion forces so close to where it hit."

Eric couldn't believe it. He never thought anything like a colony being dropped onto the Earth would happen. It just didn't make sense to him. His entire family was in Sydney when the colony hit. After that day he had a deep hatred for the people in space. Two hundred million people died from the impact and he knew that the climate change would claim many more lives.

"I heard that our Space Forces were all wiped out, so I guess we're the only ones left to fight those bastards." Logan never seemed angry about what happened to his friends and family, maybe it was because he didn't have any closure. "What about you Eric, ready to kill some of those guys to get revenge?"

_Revenge?_ Eric thought. "I want more than that." It was the first time he said it. The first time he came to this realization. "I want to kill more than some of them."

"That's the spirit."

The sky was dark now, they arrived forty-three minutes after the craft landed in the Tanami Desert. Eric counted every single one of them. The vehicle seemed to be intact, but there wasn't any sign that the crew survived. Eric had never seen the type of ship it was. The Zeon had such strange looking weapons.

"Is that what they call an HLV?"

"I think so." Logan said. "They use these to land equipment on the surface. I think they can be used to go back into space as well."

"You sure do know a lot about them, Logan."

"I'm not the commander for nothin'." He said proudly. "Pull us in a little closer Eric."

Eric drove the tank to the edge of the small crater that the HLV made when it landed. He couldn't see well from inside the driver's cabin so he pushed the hatch open and stuck his head out. Logan and Jeremy had done the same. Though Jeremy was already down on the ground looking over the edge.

"So who wants to check it out?" Jeremy asked.

"If you want to know what's down there so bad, why don't you go look for yourself?" Logan chuckled.

"You need me to fire the cannons if any enemies show up, that's why." Jeremy said snidely.

"I'll go." Eric said as he drew his sidearm from the holster.

"You sure?" Logan said.

"Yeah."

"Take the machine gun at least." Logan said as he handed him a rifle. "We don't know how many people those things are supposed to carry."

_They don't carry people._ Eric thought as he made his way down the side of the crater. The HLV had landed sideways and had skid through the desert some before it actually stopped. Though shaped like an egg, it had a tough outer shell. Not much noticeable damage on the outside, apart from a few smashed thrusters. Halfway down he almost fell, barely steadying himself with the stock of the rifle. Ahead he could see clearer now that the HLV was damaged. The part of the shell he had thought to be buried in the ground was actually smashed in.

_There's no way anyone survived from this._ He was twenty meters away now, one of the hatches was open. The door was bent and pulled across the side of the shell. _Must have torn open during the crash._ He turned the flashlight on that was attached to the barrel of the rifle and moved toward the entryway. The thick smell of blood filled his nostrils. It was so strong it almost made him sick. Regardless he climbed inside, checking each direction for enemies.

The flashlight was more than enough to illuminate the tiny hallway that he managed to climb into, yet there was no sign of any of the crew. Walking around was awkward as the HLV was laying almost all the way on it's side, but Eric could still navigate fair enough. He passed by a large door that led to the inner shell with a sign above it labeled: HANGAR.

"Still no crew." He said quietly as he moved to the door. He placed his hand on keypad next to it and pressed the unlock button. A light beeping noise, but the door didn't open.

"Guh..."

_What was that?_ He looked around with the light to still see there was nothing around.

"Ugh..."

"Is someone there?" He asked fairly loudly, knowing the answer to the question already. There was someone there.

"Help." A weak voice called out. The sound was echoing from somewhere down the hall.

"I can't believe anyone survived the crash." He said as he made his way along the hall, checking each room as he went by.

"In... here..."

Eric entered the room where the voice echoed from. The smell of blood was stronger here than anywhere in the HLV, causing him to cover his mouth with his hand. The room was filled with bodies, most of which were covered in blood. The person that was calling out to him was buried under a man's body. Eric dropped down into the room, sliding on the floor so he didn't land too hard on the pile in the corner.

"Help..."

He grabbed the arm of the top corpse and pulled slightly. He could hear the sound of bone moving around. He managed to pull the topmost body from the pile, revealing a young man gasping for breath.

"Please..."

Eric looked at him for a good minute. The guy had on a Zeon uniform and Eric could even see the Zeon crest tattooed on his neck. _He's one of them._ He thought. _One of the people that dropped the colony on us._

"You're one of them." Eric said. Blood ran down the guy's face. His blonde hair was soaked with it as well. Yet all Eric could see was the uniform. All he could see was the enemy. "You deserve this."

_Bang._

"Eric!" Logan yelled over the radio. "What's going on in there?"

"Nothing." He didn't even realize how loud the shot would be until he remembered he had the headset on. "Everything is okay in here."

He looked around, conveniently ignoring the young man's body. The smell of gunpowder filled his nostrils and he found it a good substitute for blood. No one else called for help, the only sound now was the sound of dripping blood. He climbed his way back up to the hallway and went back to the Hangar door.

"I'm shooting the lock off of a door." Eric said into the radio.

_Bang._

The door's lock released and it slid open just enough for him to get his hand in. He pushed hard and the door slid open the rest of the way. Inside the room was massive and right off the bat he could smell oil. Another welcome substitute for the blood. His flashlight waved around the room. A large machine was attached to the wall that had virtually become the ceiling. He couldn't tell what kind of machine it was, it was too large for his flashlight. He scanned across it with the light until he finally figured out what it was.

"I found a Zaku." Jeremy said over the radio. "Looks like the Zeon are coming to collect their equipment."

"Eric you need to get out of there. Now!"

"It'll take too long for me to get back." He said calmly. "You guys go without me."

"I can't do that." Logan said. "We need you."

"You can drive the tank just fine." He said. A slight smile formed on his lips. "Besides, I found something better."

"So..ing be.."

"Commander?"

"E... re... me?"

"I can't hear anything you're saying Commander!"

_Shit!_ Eric began climbing on the wall upward toward the machine secured above him. Outside he could hear the sound of machine gun fire and the occasional cannon round. He hurried his way up to a hatch on the machine and climbed in. As he began securing himself in the seat he let loose of the rifle. He grabbed for it, touching the handle briefly, as it fell. _I probably won't need that anyway._

Logan drove the tank almost as masterfully as his subordinate, using the terrain to avoid the enemy fire. The radio didn't work, so he had no way to communicate with Jeremy in the tank's turret. All he could hear from behind him was the sound of the cannons firing and he knew if the cannons were firing, then Jeremy was doing okay. Logan cut around a hill only to have his view filled with the foot of a Zaku.

The cannons fired and he could see the Zaku stumble back before he turned again. The tank's engine roared as it pushed through the dry desert soil. He turned again, hoping that moving in a random pattern would help him avoid enemy fire. The HLV came into view as well as another Zaku before the tank stopped moving. He looked down at the instruments in front of him to see what caused the sudden stop, but none of them worked. He looked behind him only to see there was something strange with the auto-loader that separated him from the turret.

"Jeremy?!" He yelled, but it was as if no sound came from his mouth. He realized now what had happened to the tank. "Jeremy!"

It took him a few minutes, but Eric managed to get this hulking monstrosity to move. The machine was so large that it crushed the infrastructure of the HLV when it detached from the wall, but it was still able to move as if it were undamaged. Eric wasn't exactly how to control it, but he continued to fiddle with the controls until it did what he wanted. He never even thought he'd end up seeing a Zaku, much less pilot one. The machine rose up as far as it could go before hitting the ceiling.

"How do I get out of this thing?" Eric looked around for some sort of hatch that led to the outside, but couldn't find it. "Guess it landed on that side."

He stuck the machine's arm up through the HLV's shell and made a small opening. The other arm followed shortly after and began pulling the metal shell open. He wondered if from the outside it looked like the egg was hatching. Once the hole was big enough he scanned the controls for something that looked like booster controls. He could still hear the gun fire from outside and was thankful that the cannons were still shooting off. He continued trying to figure out how to operate the Mobile Suit's backpack boosters until he finally just slammed both feet down on the foot pedals. The Zaku launched upward, scraping the edges of the HLV's shell as it finally reached the open air.

"Logan? Jeremy?" Eric said over the radio. There was still no response. He looked around and spotted the Zaku Jeremy had warned about. It had stepped on the rear of their Type 61 tank and had its rifle pointed at the driver's cabin. "Shit!"

Eric slammed on the controls, sending the Zaku into a sprint. The enemy Zaku's eye swerved and looked at him before firing. The small tank exploded underneath its foot. Eric slammed his Zaku into the enemy and both Mobile Suits hit the ground. Eric unbuckled his safety harness and hopped out. The enemy Zaku was still down, laying on its back, while he climbed up.

He opened the hatch to see a young woman whose eyes were closed tight as if she were in pain. She had long black hair that reminded him of a girl he used to like in school and beautiful hazel-colored eyes. But after he noticed her uniform that was all he could think about. It wasn't just some woman laying there in the downed Mobile Suit, it was an enemy. An enemy that had just killed his two best friends. An enemy that he felt had to die no matter what.

_ Bang._

0079.08.02 _Lutherian_, outside Luna II

Natasha sat at her station, listening to the various conversations of the pilots out on reconnaissance. Some talked about family, others about things they've seen in the war. Here and there was chatter about activity spotted around Luna II, but it was mostly Federation patrols docking and launching.

"Lieutenant Berg reporting in, no sign of any unusual activity. Requesting permission for my unit to be relieved."

"Permission granted, a unit from the _Lutherian_ will relieve you shortly." Natasha replied. She felt like she was on the edge of her seat for the last six hours that she sat here listening, waiting for someone to call out that they were spotted. She took in a deep breath and covered the microphone before exhaling. _I don't know if I'll be able to keep this up for a few weeks._ She didn't like being on the edge for long periods of time and she knew that it affected everyone. She could barely imagine what the crew would be like near the end of this recon stint. "Lieutenant Commander Massey, your unit is cleared to launch. You're to move to rally point delta and relieve Lieutenant Berg."

"Roger." Massey responded over the comm. "We're heading out now."

"Massey." Natasha said. "Keep Seiga out of trouble."

"Don't worry about him, I'll keep our boys safe."

"Thank you." She said slightly relieved. She knew that not being able to listen to the communications system while Seiga was out would drive her crazy, but at least she knew she could trust Massey to look after him.

"I'm here to relieve you P.O. Torres." A woman's voice came from behind Natasha. "Go get some rest."

In the cockpit of his Zaku Seiga sat thinking about the last few days. His scuffle with the new pilots in the Mess Hall. The rumors about what happened to the recovered pilot, Jerry Langley. Even the mission they were currently on. It made him uneasy that he was having so much trouble dealing with what was currently happening. He didn't want it to affect his ability to complete the mission.

"Seiga, you pick anything up over there?"

"Nothing yet, Commander." He responded sharply. "Hey Massey, can I ask you a question?"

"What is it?"

"What really happened to that pilot? Jerry Langley?"

"Yea, I want to know as well." Wong chimed in.

"All I can tell you is that it has something to do with why we're here."

"So we're basically here to spy on the Federation, hoping to catch a glimpse of some secret weapon they have?" Barry asked.

"Spot on, Barry." There was a slight hint of surprise in Massey's voice. "I will never understand why you are a pilot."

"What? All pilots have to be as dumb as Wong?"

Everyone laughed for a few moments, even Wong. Seiga found it relieving to laugh. It had only been a day since they arrived at Luna II, but he knew that the waiting would keep everyone on edge. Captain Regald had scout teams watching for movement at Luna II twenty-four hours a day and he knew it would last up until they left for Solomon. He just hoped the fleet was safely hidden away in the asteroid field roughly seven kilometers away from the enemy fortress.

"I can't see a damn thing with these low powered scopes." Wong's voice blared over the comm.

"Relax Wong, our unit is just here to watch the patrols." Massey said. "One of the other teams has a high powered scope watching Luna II."

"Even if the Federation knew we were here, I doubt they would leave their Asteroid Fortress." Barry said.

"Then why do I have to be here instead of sleeping?" Wong complained. "You three could do this just fi-"

"Patrol coming, get behind cover!" Seiga yelled. The four Zakus disappeared behind the group of small asteroids they were using to camouflage themselves. The Federation scouting vessel was small compared to a Mobile suit, but slightly larger than a Saberfish. It was shaped almost like a triangle, with the front end being flat instead of a point. Everyone stayed silent as it passed by. Seiga could feel his heart pounding as his mind ran through various scenarios and their outcomes. If one of the Mobile Suits were spotted he could destroy the small ship well before it could transmit any kind of distress signal or warning, but that wouldn't work out because they would never check in with the base. Massey could also order a retreat. If the scout wasn't watching closely they could head back to the fleet. Regald could pull the ships further away from Luna II, but that would leave them low on propellant.

Luckily, the scout continued on its path as if it didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Seiga sighed in relief as he realized how much he liked that the Federation Space Force was filled with novice soldiers. After the scout was more than five hundred meters away he could feel his heartbeat slowing back to normal pace.

"That was close." Barry exhaled.

"What was he doing way out here?" Seiga asked. "You think the Federation knows we're out here?"

"I don't know, but we need to inform the Captain that the Federation has increased its patrolling area." Massey's voice sounded grim. "Whatever the reason, we have to make sure none of our teams are spotted.

0079.08.13 _Rengaru_, Docked at Luna II

Eric was still looking over combat data from the battle that took place before they arrived at Luna II. Everything looked good, the Gundam had performed flawlessly and met all of his expectations. He had jumped through all the hoops set out by the project. There was even talk of an improved version of the RX-78 being developed somewhere, but that didn't matter much to Eric. After tomorrow's final tests he would finally get to do what he set out to do. He would finally get the fight the Zeon.

"Hey Ensign." Vince called out. Eric looked up from his computer to see the commander of the Saberfish squadron that accompanied the _Rengaru_ to Luna II. "Captain Grant wants to see you, he's in the Mobile Suit Hangar."

"The Mobile Suit Hangar? I'll head over there soon." He said as he scrolled through a few more pages of text.

"What are you looking at anyway? It looks like combat data." Vince asked as he looked over Eric's shoulder. "Is that from two weeks ago?"

"It is."

"The final tests are tomorrow, what could you possibly want to look at that old data for?"

"There's something wrong." Eric said as he scrolled more. "Ever since that day its been bugging me."

"Well, you shouldn't worry about it." Vince said as he leaned over Eric's shoulder. "There's nothing you can do about it now, so just go see the Captain. He wants to talk about the tests that you'll be doing."

0079.08.14 1843 Hours Asteroid Field outside Luna II's Defensive Zone

It had been almost two weeks since Regald's fleet arrived at Luna II, yet there was still no sign of any new Federation weapons. Though the entire fleet had to pull back to the outer edge of the asteroid field to avoid the unexpected increased range of patrols. The lack of activity added to everyone's stress. Regald often thought that the entire mission was a waste of time.

"If nothing changes in the next two hours, we'll pull back." Captain Regald announced as he entered the Bridge. "I'm not wasting anymore of our time."

"Captain, would you like me to alert the recon units?" Natasha asked.

"Open a line to all of our forces." He twiddled with the extra length in his beard as he waited for Natasha to give him the go ahead. She turned and gave him a nod. "This is Captain Regald. I would like to thank everyone for being patient in this long and tedious mission that was assigned to our fleet. In two hours we will be heading back to Solomon, on the one condition that there is no change in the Federation's movements. In these two weeks we have not seen any sign of a new Federation Ship or the rumored Federation Mobile suit." Regald cleared his throat. "Furthermore, I know all of the crew is tired and everyone is tense from all of this waiting around. I intend to request shore leave for everyone once we arrive back at Solomon."

"Hey Eric!" Yelled one of the mechanics in the Hangar. The voice was familiar, but he couldn't quite place where he remembered it from. "Good to see you made it out here."

"Yeah, I'm glad I made it too." Eric said as he turned to the man who called out to him. "Excuse me, but do I know you?"

"I was one of the mechanics that worked on the RX-78 back at Jaburo."

"Right. I better get moving."

"They want you to prep for launch now, the test will start soon."

Eric kicked off for the Gundam as he sealed his helmet. It was finally time to put his skills to the test and he was confident he could perform above expectations. He looked up at the Mobile Suit, it's yellow eyes glimmered as it powered up. It still looked just as menacing as it did the first time he saw it. Eric pulled himself into the cockpit and closed the hatch. After running a quick systems check he flipped a switch to connect communications to the Bridge.

"Ensign Shaw here, the Gundam is ready for launch."

"Acknowledged Ensign, please stand by as the drone ships are moved into position."

"Roger, standing by."

Two rather large pieces of metal moved out from one of the nearby docks. Each were about one third of the size of the _Rengaru_ and had were propelled by just one large engine.

"All right Ensign, you're cleared for launch. Your objective for this test is to demonstrate the maneuverability of the RX-78." Captain grant briefed. "To do this, we have set up two drone ships to fire AA guns at you for a period of time. After your test is complete we will be testing the main cannons of this warship on the aforementioned drones."

"Understood. I'm heading out."

0079.08.14 2037 Hours Asteroid Field outside Luna II

"Just a few more minutes and we're off to some shore leave boys." Barry said in a relieved voice. "I can't wait."

"You think we'll actually get any leave?" Wong asked.

"Well..." Barry started. "We did just spend two weeks out here watching a rock. I think they're obligated to give us at least a few days off."

"It'll be nice to get off the ship. I wonder which colony we'll dock at." Added Jason Fulton, one of the _Katherine_'s pilots. "I'm dying to eat some food that isn't rations."

"I just hope there's a bunch of babes." Wong continued. "There isn't much selection on our ship."

"There's twenty six women on our ship Wong." Barry stated. "It's just that none of them like you."

Everyone chuckled a bit. Jokes were a nice way for everyone to relieve some stress. Laughter was indeed a good Medicine. Seiga was watching his scope and his watch intently. _Only two more minutes_. He thought. _Two more minutes and we can finally get the hell out of here._

"All right boys, we're pulling back now. Doesn't seem like anything is going to happen in the next minute." Massey ordered. "You guys from the _Katherine_ going to be okay without us?"

"I think we can sit here for another two minutes without much trouble." Joshua Berg, the commanding Mobile Suit pilot on the _Katherine_, replied. "You guys go on ahead."

"You heard him, let's move out." Massey said as he headed off toward the _Lutherian_, followed closely by Barry and Wong.

Seiga took one last look at Luna II. It was something he had seen every day for the last two weeks. "I've seen enough of this place to last a lifetime."

"Don't be so cliché, Seiga." Barry stabbed.

"Yeah yeah." Seiga replied as he began following his comrades back to the ship.

"What are those objects exiting that dock?" One of the pilots from another team called out.

"You've got to be kidding me..." Wong cried.

"This is Lieutenant Berg, we have multiple objects departing from Luna II."

"Confirmed two sets of Nav lights leaving on of the docks." Two pairs of lights exited the Asteroid Fortress, each the standard red and green used to indicate the starboard and port side of the ship. "They wouldn't use those on Military craft, maybe its a civilian ship."

"Lewis, can you get a good visual on your long range scope?" Lieutenant Berg asked.

"Enhancing the image now. It... it looks like they're drones, sir." The pilot responded. "And it looks like they have several gun batteries equipped."

"Keep watching them." Massey ordered. "It doesn't make sense ofr them to use drones, radio waves are jammed by the Minovsky Particle dispersion of our Mobile Suits."

"Another vessel is exiting Luna II." Lewis alerted. "Some smaller craft also."

"Can you identify any of them?"

"No, Sir."

"Ensign Shaw, proceed to the test area." One of the operators on the _Rengaru_'s bridge alerted over the comm. "Just remember that the drones are loaded with paint rounds, so there's no need to over exert yourself."

"Roger." Eric responded. Though he knew he wouldn't take that advice into consideration. He planned to show them that the Gundam was no ordinary Mobile Suit and he was no ordinary pilot. "Proceeding to the test area."

The thrusters on the RX-78's backpack ignited, propelling the machine forward. When he was about eighty meters away from the two drones, Eric began moving erratically. The drones opened fire when he was sixty meters away. The constant pressure from the velocity changes was immense, so much so that Eric clenched his jaw with every turn he made.

"How's he doing so far?" Captain Grant asked as he watched from the _Rengaru_'s bridge.

"Captain, so far the RX-78 has avoided ninety-eight percent of the projectiles, well over the estimated amount."

"Inform Ensign Shaw to continue for thirty more seconds, then shut the drones down." Captain Grant ordered as he adjusted his hat, uncovering his face. "Begin preparing for our weapon systems test."

Eric continued to evade the anti air fire coming from the two small drones. With every second that passed by he could feel the strain on his body become more and more intense. The adrenaline pumped through his veins, giving dulling enough of his fatigue and pain for him to continue on. He watched on, trying to predict what firing pattern the drones were going to use, until he noticed something on one of the drones. Maybe someone had done it just for effect, but there was a Zeon flag painted on the side of one of the craft. He fixed his gaze on it, still maneuvering the RX-78 as best he could. He could feel the same anger he felt back on Earth, back when he was in Australia and encountered a Zeon soldier for the first time. The dying boy inside the HLV. A split second flash of his brain matter splattered on the wall.

"Ensign Shaw, what are you doing?" Captain Grant yelled over the communications system.

Eric hadn't realized it until now, but he had fired his Beam Rifle at the drone with the Zeon flag. The other drone had stopped firing anti air rounds and was moving back toward the dock. _What happened?_ He thought.

"Dock on the _Rengaru._ Now, Ensign!"

"Captain..."

"Save it for later. Follow my orders now or you'll be taken off this project."

Eric hesitated, still unsure of what had happened in the last ten seconds that could have caused all of this. "Roger."

"What now Captain?" One of the operators asked. "With one of the drones gone we won't be able to test the penetration power of the main cannons."

"Helmsman, take us near the asteroid field. There's got to be some debris we can use out there." Captain Grant adjusted his hat to hide the disappointed look on his face. "Inform command of the changes and have Ensign Shaw come to the bridge when he lands."

"Amazing."

"What happened Lewis?" Asked Lieutenant Berg.

"That Mobile Suit is equipped with some sort of beam weapon." He responded calmly. "And he seems to have evaded most of that barrage just now."

"Beam weapon?" Seiga had spent the last five minutes watching the events through his low powered scope wishing that he could see what Gayle Lewis could. From their current distance, he could only make out the tracers from the anti air fire and there were a lot of tracers, making it hard for Seiga to believe that the Federation Mobile Suit could evade most of it. "What's happening now?"

"It looks like the new ship is moving away from Luna II." Lewis responded.

"What about that Mobile Suit?" Massey asked without hesitation.

"I- I lost sight of it."

"Stop being useless, Gayle." Lieutenant Berg said with a slight irritation in his voice. "Where is that ship heading?"

"Shit! It's coming this way."

"What should we do Commander?" Barry asked. "If we move now, we'll most likely be spotted by that patrol that's moving on our ten."

"It's likely we've been spotted already." Massey said grimly. "Barry, Seiga. You guys move over and take out that patrol. Everyone else return to the fleet. We need to get out of here."

The two Blue Zakus split up from the rest and rocketed toward the patrol craft. Compared to the other Zakus Barry's and Seiga's really stuck out. Barry's R1 was equipped with two MMP-80s and had several extra clips hard pointed onto its waist. Seiga's was armed with a single MMP-80 and several Heat Hawks, including the larger one that Rupert's crew had worked on.

The patrol craft itself had almost stopped moving completely while the Federation Mobile Suit performed its evasion tests and seemed to be more concerned with the new Federation ship than the two Zakus rocketing straight towards it.

"We caught this guy with his pants down." Barry smirked as he let loose a barrage from one of his MMP-80 machine guns. The 90mm rounds cut the small craft into pieces before it could even react. "Let's move before that ship catches up."

Seiga turned back toward Luna II, trying to catch a glimpse of the ship that was heading toward them. It was much closer than he had hoped, only about two kilometers away from the edge of the asteroid field. The ship had an odd shape, almost like a spearhead, and had two modules jutting out from the front along the angles. One was longer than the other and seemed to be hollowed out. Seiga wasn't sure if it was some sort of giant cannon or a dock of some sort.

"Come on Seiga, we have to go."

"What kind of stunt were you trying to pull?" Captain Grant yelled as he grabbed Eric's collar, baring his teeth. "On my ship, you obey my orders."

Eric looked at the Captain, pondering if he should yell back or just stay quiet. The man was angry for obvious reasons and the news of enemies inside Luna II's defensive zone did not help matters.

"Do you understand?" Captain Grant continued to yell, but Eric was still silent. The Captain made a sound that was deep like a growl and threw Eric to the side. Eric slammed into the ground and got up almost immediately. Years in the Federation had him ready for a heavy handed slap, but nothing came. Instead the Captain simply sat back in his chair, with his hand over his face. "Just go."

"Sir?"

"Get ready for combat." He said loudly, but not quite in a yell. "I'm ordering you to your station. Have the Saberfish engaged the enemy yet?"

"They are currently in the asteroid field, Captain."

Seiga watched from behind an asteroid as two Saberfish flew by. So far only a single squadron had made an attempt to fight them off, Seiga expected the rest were being mobilized and sent out with a few ships. Another fighter flew by, just close enough for Seiga to smash his Heat Hawk into the nose section. The nose spun off and the rest of the craft continued on, slamming into a nearby asteroid.

"The reach on this thing is great." Seiga whispered to himself as he looked at the large Heat Hawk. "What did Rupert call this thing, the _Dualis Securis?_"

He looked around for Barry, only to see that the other two Saberfish that had flown by were now on their way back. Seiga quickly reached for one of the normal Heat Hawks and tossed it at the two oncoming fighters. It smashed into the port side of one, causing it to explode. The other opened fire, sending 25mm rounds into the asteroid Seiga was using for cover.

"Stay down." Barry yelled as he circled by, firing both MMP-80s at the Saberfish. The rounds pierced the craft continuously until it exploded. "How many more do you think are coming?"

"Judging from the size of Luna II, I'd say too many for us to stay here." Seiga said as he came out from behind the asteroid.

"There's that ship."

The new Federation ship was passing through the asteroid field, ignoring the two Zakus completely. Seiga looked at the direction it was heading and realized where it was actually going.

"Let's go."

"Don't want to play with the fish anymore?"

"They've spotted the fleet."

Two more Saberfish launched from the _Rengaru_ as Eric sat and watched in his Mobile Suit. _I really messed up._ He knew that Captain Grant was really angry at him and that the consequences for disobeying orders would probably be severe. At least in his eyes. He was almost certain that this would be the last time he got to pilot the Gundam. _I need to look on the bright side. At least I still get to kill a few of those Zeon bastards._

"There's no response from Echo One, possible K.I.A."

"What was Echo One's last known position?" Eric asked over the comm. He was getting anxious to head out into the battle and he couldn't wait for the _Rengaru _to catch up to the enemy ships that were spotted further out from the asteroid field.

"Last known." There was a pause. Eric figured the operator had a long list of data to scan for the information he needed. "Engaging enemies in the asteroid field. Count: Two Zaku II."

"This is Ensign Shaw, requesting permission to search for Echo One."

"Captain, Ensign Shaw is requesting permission to launch." One of the operators said.

"Already? We're not even in range of the enemy ships." Captain Grant scoffed. "He can't go."

"He wants to search for Echo One."

"Echo One is most likely dead, along with the rest of Echo in that asteroid field." Captain Grant said quietly. He didn't want to send Eric out there, not with that lust for blood that he seemed to have. Something about that pilot peeked his interest during the duration of Project-V, but now that it was coming to an end so was his interest. "Send him out."

"Ensign Shaw, you are cleared for launch." The operator relayed.

"How long until we are in range of the enemy ships?" Asked Captain Grant.

"Ten minutes and twenty-eight seconds at current speeds, sir."

"Keep our speed up, make sure the main cannons are prepped to fire." The disappointment in his face changed to a grin. "We'll test our weapons system on the annoying onlookers."

The _Lutherian_ was holding up the rear of the fleet with the _Javad _out front. All four ships were retreating at a steady pace, but the new Federation ship was in pursuit. After the launch of several squadrons of Saberfish, Regald had sent out the majority of the Mobile Suits to intercept the enemy. It had come down to an almost even match as there were thirty three Saberfish and fifteen Zakus. Skill would be the determining factor of this battle.

Wong thought the amount of ammunition flying around was astonishing. Small explosions, tracers and missiles mixing together. It vaguely reminded him of a firework show filling the sky when he was a child.

"No time to dawdle, Wong." Massey chimed in over the comm.

Wong fired his Bazooka at a Saberfish as it passed by. The shell missed its mark and the Saberfish continued on. He turned to see that the Federation ship was closing the gap with the fleet. He moved in close and fired his weapon again. The shell hit one of the anti-air guns, leaving behind only charred metal. The enemy ship was fast, but it wasn't as small and agile as the Saberfish. _If I can stay at this range, could I take this ship out?_

"Pull back Wong." Massey ordered as his Zaku flew by. He noticed that Massey had taken a few hits, most likely from getting too close to the Federation ship. Wong nodded and followed suit, moving into formation on Massey's right side. "The fighters are getting too close to the fleet, we'll have to worry about the ship later."

"Roger." He agreed, wishing that Barry or Seiga were there to keep everyone safe.

The Federation Mobile Suit rocketed through the asteroid field, weaving in between the floating rocks as if he were racing through traffic on a busy city street. Seiga watched from behind a rather large asteroid, waiting for their chance to sneak by.

"I think we're clear." Seiga looked behind him to see that Barry was signaling for him to follow. Seiga hated moving through the debris field at Barry's careful pace, but he followed without hesitation.

When they finally made it through to the edge of the asteroid field there was a clear view of the battle. The enemy ship was almost caught up to the fleet and it seemed as if the Mobile Suits were too busy with the fighters to take it out. "Maybe we can slow that ship down, then the fleet will be okay."

"Let's go, if we waste any more time there won't be a fleet." Barry said pessimistically.

"You think that Federation Mobile Suit is coming back?"

"If it does, we'll take care of it." Barry increased his speed, pushing the R1 to its limit. Seiga stayed close behind, trying to think of how best to enter the battle waging in front of him.

"Come in, _Lutherian_, this is Lieutenant Riggs, do you read?"

"Lieutenant Riggs, is Ensign Matsuda with you?" Responded one of the operators.

"Yea, we're both approaching the combat zone."

"We have you on laser scope now. Be advised, there is another silhouette approaching from your left."

"You hear that Seiga?" Barry asked.

_ "The Fed Mobile Suit?" He asked as he checked his monitor. The machine was moving faster than his Zaku. "Damn, he's got some speed."_

0079.08.14 2303 Hours _Lutherian_

"At current speeds, how much longer until that ship catches us?"

"One minute and thirteen seconds, Captain." Replied Lieutenant Commander Vaughn.

"Captain, there's a massive build up in heat on the port side of the enemy ship. They're charging weapons."

"Hard to starboard, evasive maneuvers." Captain Regald ordered.

The enemy Federation ship fired a shot from the Mega Particle cannons on its port side. The massive beam ripped through space itself and slammed into the _Noble Desert_ before dispersing off in the distance.

"Sir, the _Noble Desert_ just took a hit to one of its engines." One of the operators alerted. "It's losing speed."

"Keep hard to starboard, turn the ship around. We'll act as a shield if we have to." Regald ordered. "Ready the main cannons."

"Turn the ship around, we'll act as a shield if we have to!" Regald ordered. "Ready the main cannons."

The _Lutherian _turned on its side and twisted around to face the opposing ship. The rest of the fleet continued onward, as did the enemy ship.

"They're going to go around us, Captain."

"Fire at the engines. Fire until they either lose interest in the chase or lose their ability to move."

Seiga leaned forward in his seat as he impatiently waited for his Zaku to reach the battle. _Come on, come on!_ He kept his foot firmly down on the throttle, as he watched the Federation Mobile Suit get even closer.

"Look at that." Barry said as the _Lutherian _pulled to the side of the Federation's ship, firing its main cannons. "What is the Captain doing?"

"Don't look now, but the Fed Mobile Suit has almost caught up to us."

"Shit, are you serious?" Barry asked as he no doubt looked for himself. "I can't believe it's faster than our R1s."

"Yeah."

"I've got an idea..." Barry started.

"It better not be something stupid, like you trying to stop that guy all by yourself." Seiga said with a firm tone.

"You know me that well?" Barry laughed. _How could he laugh at a time like this?_ "But I'm serious. I'm going to do it. They need you out there to stop that ship."

"All right, but when we make it back, you're going to be the one fixing up my Zaku."

"Roger that, see ya back in the Hangar."

Eric continued onward, closing the distance between him and the two Mobile Suits that he had been chasing from the asteroid field. He took a quick glance when he got close and realized that the two Blue Zakus were not the standard Model. "So the Zeon have a new model Mobile Suit? It's no match for the Gundam."

One of the Zakus slowed down, halting its escape and turned to face him. _What are you up to, letting your friend escape?_ Eric thought to himself. _You're not getting in my way._ Eric kept his foot down on the throttle, keeping his pace as the Zaku began charging for him. It raised both of the machine guns it carried and opened fire. Eric responded by putting up his shield and taking cover behind it as he pushed through the barrage. The Zaku slowed as he got close, but Eric kept his speed and used the shield to bat away the Zaku, sending it spiraling off into the distance. The blow warped the Zakus frame and smashed in the torso where the left arm connected to the shoulder.

"Now," Eric said as he set his sights on the second Blue Zaku. "Where are you going?"

"Argghh." Barry yelled over the comm.

"Barry?" Seiga glanced back to see that his comrade had been knocked away. "I'm coming to get you."

"Don't worry about me! He's right on your tail!" Barry yelled as his Mobile Suit continued to drift.

Seiga glanced at the monitor to his left, eying the rifle that the Federation Mobile Suit carried. It was hard for him to believe it was already about one hundred meters away and still closing in on him. He maneuvered his Zaku into a dive, trying to put himself between the Federation Mobile Suit and the enemy ship. His heart raced, thinking of the powerful weapon the enemy had. _If he fires that beam weapon, he'll risk shooting his own ship._

His Zaku started to shake as he noticed some small bullets whiz by his Zaku. _What is that? _It felt like he was colliding with several small pieces of debris, but the bullets led him to believe the enemy was firing some small weapon at him. He tried to look, but couldn't get a clear view.

Eric quit firing the head mounted Vulcans when he noticed they did little more than dent the enemy's armor. _This thing is useless at this range._ He began lining up a shot with his Beam Rifle. "Let's see if this will do more than just dent the armor."

Seiga's lock on alarms began sounding off. _Shit, is he really going to use that rifle?_ He moved in a spiral pattern, staying on course toward the enemy ship. The alarms went silent and for a moment he was relieved, but it faded in the next half second as a bolt of Mega Particles flew by his Zaku, only missing by a few meters.

"Crazy bastard, are you trying to destroy your own ship?!" Seiga yelled as he turned to face his opponent head on. He quickly reached for his last standard Heat Hawk and chucked it as hard as he could at the enemy Mobile Suit. The blade smashed into it's shield, the super heated blade cut through the lower portion, leaving a large gash almost all the way across. Seiga aimed his MMP-80 and fired.

The enemy suit moved straight up, then strafed to the left, and then boosted downward. It kept its track record from the earlier test, avoiding nearly every 90mm round that was being fired at it. But Seiga kept firing until his clip was empty, sparks flew as his last bullet landed firmly in the enemy Mobile Suit's right shoulder joint.

"Got him." Seiga said, hopeful that the enemy's right arm would be hindered from the damage. Seiga released the machine gun and reached for the upgraded Heat Hawk that Rupert worked so hard on. He powered it on, the blade began to glow red from the heat. The Dualis Securis was so much larger than the standard ones that most Zakus were equipped with. It was almost like an executioner's ax and that was what Seiga wanted to use it for.

Eric fiddled with the joystick that controlled the right arm, making sure it was still in working condition. It was sluggish, but still worked. _Not good enough to aim precisely. _He thought as he released the Beam Rifle. The Zaku in front of him drew a larger Heat Hawk than what he was used to, but it didn't scare Eric. Instead of cowering in fear of the large weapon he drew his own. Reaching for the Gundam's backpack, he grabbed one of the Beam Sabers from behind the Mobile Suit's head.

"We gonna do this?" Eric said as if the enemy pilot was able to hear him. The two Mobile Suits stood facing each other as if they were about to duel. The explosions and weapons firing off around them didn't matter right now. It was Eric versus this Zeon pilot. And Eric planned to win.

The Zaku charged at him, wielding the large ax in two hands. Eric put up his shield to block the first swing. From behind the large rectangular shield he could see the enemy's super heated blade cutting downward through his shield. The tip of the blade tore into the Gundam's left hand splitting open the protective casing and taking off two of it's fingers.

Eric countered with a swing from his Saber, going up and to the left. But the enemy Zaku ripped part of his shield off and slammed it into the Gundam's right arm, knocking the Beam Saber to the side. It didn't stop there. After knocking his weapon away, the Zaku slammed its spiked shoulder into Eric's Mobile Suit, pushing him away.

_How can this guy be so good?_ Eric thought. In just three minutes into their encounter Eric had sustained more damage than he ever did after the first week of simulations. He looked at the Zeon Mobile Suit. He could see there was some distinct differences in this model and the Zakus he was used to seeing back on Earth. More verniers meant that it had more precise maneuverability and from the chase earlier he could tell the engine's output was higher. But it still wasn't anything special compared to the Gundam. _I have the Gundam._ "I can't lose to some spacenoid while I'm piloting the Gundam!"

Eric could feel his rage revitalize him. He began firing his head mounted Vulcans as the enemy charged at him again. The enemy paused mid swing and boosted away. _He probably knows the Vulcans can tear through his armor at close range._ Eric thought as he gave chase, still firing the Vulcans as his monitor blared at him about the heat levels of the barrels.

"How much ammunition do those things have?" Seiga asked himself as he turned his Zaku around to swing at the pursuing enemy. He had tried to keep track of his enemy's position while dodging the volley of bullets that filled the area, but lost track of him during the turn. Seiga ended up swinging early, missing completely as the enemy slowed themselves down.

The enemy Mobile Suit had already drawn another beam sword and went on the offensive. Seiga tried to block with the Dualis Securis' super heated blade, hoping that it was hot enough to repel whatever was used to make the blade on the beam sword. As both weapons collided Seiga could feel himself being pushed back. _At least the Heat Hawk can hold against this thing's weapon._

Seiga pushed down on the throttle, trying to keep himself from being overpowered. He could feel the Zaku shaking as the engine roared at full power. For a moment it seemed as if he was going to stop his backwards momentum, but it only seemed to slow him down. It wasn't enough to bring him to a full stop. Ahead of him he could see the blade on his ax redden. _It isn't going to hold up much longer._

"Shit!" Seiga yelled as he grabbed for the enemy Mobile Suit's arm. He managed to move the beam sword off of his weapon and arched the Zaku's arm back for a swing. The enemy countered with a swift kick to the torso.

"Get off me!" Seiga heard the enemy pilot yell as he received a second kick to the torso. _Contact link?_ The monitor to his left shattered as part of the cockpit's wall was crushed inward. The first kick and only pushed him back, but the second knocked him away. Seiga scrambled to get his bearings as his Zaku flew backward. He looked around his two remaining monitors, trying to get a grip on what was going on. The tide of battle had turned. Not only had his Mobile Suit sustained damage, but he had also lost his only remaining weapon. Even worse is that he was against a Mobile Suit with far greater capabilities than his own. Something extremely powerful. It was like a monster in a dream.

When Seiga regained control of his Zaku, the enemy had already rushed up and prepared a downward swing to finish the battle. Everything slowed down for Seiga. Thoughts of his family and friends rushed through his mind. Images of his parents and Nolan filled his sight. _Is this it? This is where it all ends?_ Then all he could think of was Natasha. He could see her crying in one of the hallway's aboard the _Lutherian_. Her face had the look of devastation on it. Like she had lost everything that she ever had.

"I won't let that happen to her!" Seiga yelled as he extended his Zaku's left arm to block the blow.

_ "Get out of there!" Seiga heard a voice call out._

0079.08.14 0019 Hours Battlefield Outside Luna II

Owen Grant sat firmly strapped in his chair. His left hand was planted on the arm rest with his fist clenched, the other covered his face. The entire day had been a disaster. First the testing of the Federation's prototype Mobile suit had been observed by the Zeon. Then this battle occurred, resulting in a stalemate. And to top it all off the prototype Mobile Suit didn't perform as expected in live combat.

The _Rengaru_ shook violently as a missile hit the underside of the ship. Owen's fist unclenched and grasped the chair to brace himself out of habit. After regaining his composure, he adjusted his hat. "Make sure Ensign Shaw is recovered. Have Lieutenant Lamrok escort him back to the ship."

"Captain, the Chivvay is moving out of range."

"We'll keep back for now." Owen's mouth morphed into a frown. "We've suffered enough humiliation. Set up patrols to watch for more enemy ships."

Eric watched as the remaining Zakus retreated after the Chivvay and the other ships. He was disappointed with his performance. After the fighting was over he had only taken out a single enemy Mobile Suit, despite having a superior machine of his own. _But I was outnumbered_. He thought. And as much as he didn't want to admit it, the Zeon pilot had him outmatched.

He looked around at the instruments and monitors in the cockpit. Most of them were reporting damage and telling him there was an error with the various systems. The Gundam had taken quite a beating in the battle. He knew it wasn't going to be a pretty sight when he made it back to the ship. Disobeying orders was one thing, but almost destroying the Federation's top secret weapon that was still in development was another.

The Gundam's left arm was almost split in half from the hand midway down to the forearm. The backpack had taken a few hits, leaving one of the thrusters unusable. He had even lost every weapon, with the exception of one Beam Saber, that the Gundam was equipped with. All of that piled onto the fact that he had only one kill to show for it. He knew he would most likely be taken off the project. He would never get to pilot the Gundam again.

"Buck up." Vince said over the comm. "I'm sure nothing too serious will come from this."

"Maybe." Eric replied. He knew that it was going to be bad. He knew that there was no getting out of this situation without getting thrown off the project. It was done. He began thinking of ways he could have done things differently. Something that he could have done to change the outcome, but there was no going back. No saving more lives of his allies and no taking more lives from the enemy. Just knowing that he only killed one infuriated him. "I can't believe it ended up like this."

Barry stood in the hangar bay watching as the various mechanics hoisted what was left Seiga's Zaku up and secured it to the wall. He found it disheartening that the machine had taken so much damage, but it was also surprising that its nuclear reactor didn't overload and meltdown. _Those R1s are tough Mobile Suits._ Barry thought to himself. His own Zaku had also suffered quite a beating. A head on collision with the Federation's Mobile Suit nearly warped the frame into an unusable hunk of metal.

The sound of a door opening nearby almost startled him. He turned to see Natasha rushing into the hangar. She was almost at a sprint when she hit the railing, leaning over as she used it to stop. Her eyes went wide as she saw Seiga's Zaku. Barry could almost see the tears start to form in her eyes from where he stood. He wasn't even sure why she was here in the hangar.

"Why are you down here?" He asked as he approached.

"You mean Seiga isn't still here?" She said. Barry could hear that she was trying to hold back from sobbing. "Where did he go?"

_She doesn't know?_ Barry had a worried look on his face. He felt sorry for her. "You mean... no one told you?"

The tears rolled down her cheeks.

Seiga put his Zaku's left arm up to block the enemy's strike. The beam of the enemy Mobile Suit's sword melted straight through as it forced the blade downward.

"Get out of there!" Someone yelled as a Zaku slammed into the Federation suit. Seiga wasn't sure who it was, his senses were hazy for some reason and everything started to sound muffled. The enemy Mobile Suit backed off for a moment allowing time for him to look around and see just who had saved him. It was a standard Zaku, not Barry's blue R1, nor was it Massey's Command Zaku. "What are you doing? I said get out of here!"

Seiga barely recognized the voice, but he knew who it was. The pilot Jerry Langley, who had seen the Federation Mobile Suit once before already. The man charged the enemy once again, barreling into it, shoulder spike first. Langley raised his Heat Hawk, ready to give the final blow.

"This is for all my comrades that you killed!" He yelled as he brought the blade down. A wave of relief washed over Seiga. This was it, this was the end of the Federation Mobile Suit. It had been so monstrously strong, but it was going to meet its end here. He had been rescued from the clutches of death itself and Langley would get his revenge. It was over. _Over..._

But it wasn't over. The enemy Mobile Suit caught the Zaku's hand, stopping the attack cold. The Mobile Suit's eyes glowed a bright yellow for a brief instant. Seiga's heart sink and he could feel a shortness of breath. His heart had just skipped a beat. Something about the way that Mobile Suit looked scared him. Actually scared him. He had seen countless people die, had suffered the loss of his own family, but nothing had ever terrified him more.

"Why are you still here?" Langley asked over the comm. His voice was filled with a sadness that was unmistakable. He would never get to avenge his fallen comrades. He would never even get to leave the cockpit of the Zaku he was piloting. It was the voice of someone who knew they were about to die.

Langley didn't give up though, instead he slammed the Zaku's free hand into the enemy Mobile Suit over and over. _He doesn't want to go out without a fight._ Seiga thought as he watched from a short distance away. He wished he could help. He wanted to be able to repay Langley for saving him, but what could he do without a weapon. Seiga could see the machine guns hidden in the enemy suit's head start to spin. Even at a medium distance those bullets barely dented the armor on a Zaku, but up close. Up close is what it was meant for. The guns began to spit bullets out at a high rate of fire, Seiga could see them piercing through the cockpit of Langley's Zaku.

The enemy Mobile Suit boosted away just as the Zaku exploded. Seiga frantically began looking around him, hoping to see his discarded MMP-80 or even the Heat Hawk he had thrown at the enemy, but there was nothing. Nothing but debris. The pieces of Saberfish, the arm of a Zaku, and some strange small cylinder. _Cylinder? Where have I seen that before?_

Seiga rocketed his Zaku over to it as he realized what the object was. He had seen it before. He had seen it on the enemy's backpack. It was the beam sword that he knocked away earlier. His Zaku's hand enclosed around the object just as something pulled him back hard against the seat. He could feel his Mobile Suit moving forward as he clenched his teeth. He pushed down on the throttle, trying to regain control, but the thrusters didn't engage.

Seiga looked around the cockpit. The monitors on the left side had been shattered, glass and a dark brown liquid floated around the cockpit. The monitors in front of him and on the right were fuzzy and he could barely read them. He could feel the sweat rolling down his face. Something was wrong, but he didn't know what.

"Matsuda." He could hear someone call over the comm. He knew it was Massey, even though the voice sounded muffled. "Matsuda!"

"Seiga!"

_ Then nothing._

0079.08.14

Seiga awoke hazily to bright lights shining in his eyes. He squinted his eyes trying to figure out where he was. His neck was so stiff that he couldn't turn his head, leaving him only the ceiling and bright lights to look at, but he knew there was someone next to him. He could feel them. He could feel Natasha at his side, worried out of her mind. He tried to raise himself up, but a sharp pain shot through his side. He winced and put pressure on it as he laid himself back down.

"Don't move." He heard Natasha say.

"How long was I out?" He asked weakly, knowing that she had been by his side the entire time.

"A little over a day."

Seiga rubbed his neck to loosen it up and looked over at her. He could see her eyes were bloodshot from crying, there were dried tears going down her slender cheeks. He grabbed her hand with his and looked at her. She looked back for a moment before putting her other hand atop his.

"It's okay." He said as he smiled at her. Natasha arched over, placing her head on his shoulder. He could feel his shirt become wet with tears as she sobbed quietly. He placed his free hand on her back and began softly rubbing it up and down to comfort her. "I'm here and I'm not going to be leaving any time soon."

0079.08.14 Bridge of the _Lutherian_

"How long until we rendezvous with the supply ships?" Captain Regald asked. He patiently awaited a response, knowing that the data had to be relayed from one of the other ships. The _Lutherian_ had taken quite a beating in the last battle. The hull had taken several hits, leaving massive holes where the enemy's Mega Particle Cannons landed hit. The port side engines had also sustained heavy damage, making it near impossible to keep them online, so the ship was only running on the large main engine and the starboard side engine. Regald hated that his flagship suffered such a loss and to just one ship.

"Confirmed from the _Javad._ ETA on the supply ships is seven hours." Replied one of the operators. Everyone on the bridge was still in their normal suits in case the enemy gave chase. With one engine out on two ships, the fleet was moving at a slow pace.

"Do we have a list of the casualties yet?" Reglad asked grimly as he stood up.

"Yes Captain, we've compiled a list from all the ships."

"Send a copy to my lounge." He said as he walked to the door. "And have LC Massey and Lieutenant Riggs report there as well."

Natasha was still in the infirmary at Seiga's side. He had fallen back asleep not longer after he had woken up and had stayed that way since. The doctor said he just needed rest and that the fatigue he had was due to blood loss, but she knew something else happened. She could feel that he had faced death itself. There was a fear in him that wasn't there before. She could see it as he slept. The slightest twitch or kick that was never there before. What he was afraid of wasn't as clear though. She didn't see what he saw, didn't feel what he felt.

"I heard what you yelled out." She whispered. "I was sitting on the bridge listening for you."

She could feel the tears coming forth, but he tried her best to hold them back. He closed her eyes and rubbed tried to rub wipe them dry. She didn't want to be seen in such a mess if Seiga woke up again soon. She leaned over and wrapped her arms around him. His skin was cold and pale.

"I just want to hold on to you and never let go." She said as softly as she could. She was glad to finally say it out loud. It was something that she wanted to tell him for a long time. Ever since they were kids. She kept her eyes closed and thought of her childhood. How they would play in her back yard with Nolan, following him around. Her dad would be making barbeque on the grill, making jokes with Seiga's dad and her mother would be setting the patio table for lunch. _I miss those days._

She jumped slightly as Seiga's cold hand slid up and down her back. She relaxed again and let her eyes rest more. She hadn't slept much since the battle, just a few minutes of dozing off here and there, but nothing significant. Even though his hand was cold, it was still soothing as it ran up and down her back.

"I miss them too." Seiga said so quietly that she could barely hear.

Her eyes opened and went wide as she looked at him. He wasn't even awake. She could still hear his low snore as he breathed in and out.

_ Maybe I just need some sleep._

"Welcome, Lieutenant Riggs." Captain Regald said as Barry entered the room. "I'm sure a bright young man such as yourself can figure out why I called you here."

"You want me to give you my input on the enemy Mobile Suit." Barry replied.

"Very astute, but not just the Mobile Suit. You saw the enemy ship as well, did you not?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Very good." Regald said as he leaned back in his chair. "Have a seat, we'll start with the enemy Mobile Suit."

"Well." Barry started as he sat down. "The machine itself seemed quite powerful. It moved a lot faster than our Zakus and seemed to have tough armor despite being smaller." He paused for a moment to plan out his thoughts. He didn't want to sound like he admired the enemy machine, but in truth he did. It was a superior Mobile Suit, with superior weaponry. "It carried a beam firing rifle and at least two beam swords."

"Yes, we recovered one of the cylinders."

"Right." Barry continued. "I'm not really sure I'm the best person to ask about this though Captain. Seiga was the one who fought-"

"Ensign Matsuda is in the infirmary, still unconscious the last time I heard. And do you know why?" Regald interrupted and before Barry could respond he continued. "It's because he lost a damn liter of blood during that battle! Right now you're the only one who can give me a clear opinion on the machine at this point, so please continue."

"Ri-right, sir." Barry stuttered. "There's not much more I can say about it though. As I'm sure you remember I spent most of the battle trying to get my Zaku in working order."

"When I pulled Matsuda away," Massey said as the door slid open. "The enemy Mobile Suit had taken some significant damage. It isn't invincible."

"Nice of you to finally join us, Lieutenant Commander." Regald said as Massey entered the room. "Now that we're all here, lets talk about the new enemy ship. Your thoughts, Massey?"

"The ship was oddly shaped and had some pretty powerful cannons. The damage it did to our ship and the _Noble Desert_ makes that apparent enough." Massey said as he rested his chin on his thumb. "Maybe it is some sort of new mass production model."

"Excuse me Commander Massey, but I don't think its a mass production model. You said it yourself that it was oddly shaped. From what I could tell, it had a built in dock. It seems as if it was an unfinished project that got scrapped halfway through."

"You're saying there is a better type of ship?"

"Most likely. If the Federation is indeed building Mobile Suits, they will need someway to launch them."

"So it was a prototype for a Mobile Suit Carrier?"

"That is my best guess."

0079.08.15 Luna II

"See?" Vince said as he sat down on the bench next to Eric. "It didn't end up so bad."

"Not so bad, eh?" Eric said as he watched what remained of the RX-78 being loaded onto a shuttle. Luna II's hangar was filled with ships, but only a few were going to escort the Gundam back to Earth. "I'm not sure I catch your drift."

"Well, if you look on the bright side. You didn't get demoted and they did leave you that souvenir." Vince somehow always stayed optimistic. Even though they did leave him that crate it wasn't like he could use it. "I can always set you up with a Saberfish if you want to keep flying."

"I think I'll just wait." Eric said as he turned. Captain Grant walked over to the two men and removed his hat before sitting down next to them. "So, what now Captain?"

"I'm not sure." Captain Grant said as he let out a big sigh. "Our plans seem to have changed a lot."

"Tell me about it." Eric said quietly.

"It looks like the _Rengaru_ will be stationed here at Luna II for awhile." Owen put his hat back on. "But it seems you will not, Ensign Shaw."

"I'm being transferred?" Eric asked.

"Aye."

0079.08.16 Solomon Space Fortress

Both the _Lutherian_ and the _Noble Desert_ were running on one set of engines as they entered Solomon. The _Lutherian_ red paint was smeared with burn residue and covered with dents and various holes. The _Noble Desert_ had lost an entire engine section in the battle. The two battle scarred ships were followed closely by the _Javad_ and the _Katherine._ All of the ships in the Fleet had made it back this time, without any complications other than lack of speed.

"This is Captain Regald speaking." His voice echoed throughout all four ships. "Once we've completed docking procedures we will begin loading each ship's crew onto shuttles. I've already contacted Vice Admiral Dozle, and he's agreed to allot us some shore leave."

Seiga sat attentively in his room, wondering how long they would get to stay on a colony. Little by little the constant smell of sweat, oil and grease was wearing on him. _A change of scenery will be nice too_. He thought as he looked over at Natasha.

"You've all earned this break. Everyone worked hard over the last few weeks and everyone fought well in our last battle. We may have lost many good men and women, but we will honor them by continuing to fight for the freedom of our people. Yes, we will still fight the good fight."

Natasha was sitting on his bed with her knees to her chest, arms wrapped around. Seiga knew she was still shaken up, she hadn't even left his side since his was in the infirmary. _If Langley hadn't been there._ He thought. _Then I wouldn't be here._ He walked over and sat next to her on the bed.

"Are you ready to get some fresh air?" He asked as he put his arm around her. In the back of his mind he knew the air wasn't fresh, because it was mostly reprocessed by the colony ventilation system, but Natasha nodded slightly in agreement. Seiga grabbed the bags they had packed with one hand and slung them over his shoulder while he extended the other to her. "Then let's go."

0079.08.17 Luna II

Eric was sitting on the shuttle, waiting for it to take off. It was a small passenger shuttle, which meant it would most likely not be targeted by enemy ships if it passed by any. The Captain had told him he was getting a transfer, but he never thought it would actually be somewhere he wanted to go. Especially after wrecking the Gundam like he did. From his window seat he could see the various workers of Luna II loading supplies onto the shuttle.

One of the tow boats carried the crate that was left for him. When he first got it, he thought it would go unused. It wasn't like there were any Mobile Suits around that he could use it on. But now with the news of this transfer he was excited to have it. _I may never pilot the RX-78 again, but I'll still have a Gundam_.

"We'll be taking off shortly." A flight attendant said as she passed by his row. There were only a few other passengers aboard the ship, most of which looked like mechanics and engineers, he could see the grease stains on their hands. There was one passenger that stood out though. It was a younger man, that still almost looked like a kid, who had dark skin.

_ He returned his gaze back to the window, where the workers had cleared the hangar. Finally time to take off I guess. The small shuttle engaged its engines and slowly began moving toward the exit. I'm finally going to be able to kill the Zeon._

0079.08.17 Colony 16, Side 3 Cluster

Shuttle Four finally docked with Colony 16 after hours of flight delays due to the arrival of supply ships at Solomon. The small shuttle landed softly as the airlock closed behind it. The passengers began pouring out, each seemed relieved to finally be on the colony. Even Seiga, who had spent the last nine months of his life either on the _Lutherian _or in a Zaku, was glad to finally be off the ship. Things were so much different on the colonies, there was so much freedom. He could do almost anything, like walk without having to keep himself on the floor.

When he was younger, Seiga took the artificial gravity of the colonies for granted. But now he appreciated how the colonies used centripetal force to keep everyone and everything down on the inside of the cylindrical world. Inside everything was beautiful, lush forests filled the man-made countryside and many small towns surrounded the large city that made up the majority of the landscape.

As he walked along the path Natasha followed closely behind. He could feel that she was relieved to be off the ship as well, but he was so enticed by the sensory overload that he didn't say anything. The smell of fresh cut grass filled his nostrils, a smell he hadn't known for well over a year.

"It sure is nice to be off the ship." Natasha said quietly. "And having something other than worry to weigh me down."

"You're right." Seiga said as he looked over at her. She was staring intently off into the distance. He knew that she was thinking of the past as well. She was probably thinking of her parents, of her house they had. "Come on, let's go look around."

"Where?" She asked.

"Barry said this colony was the best place to entertain ourselves." Then he did his best imitation of Barry. "They don't call it Ludus for nothing."

_Footnote: Ludus is the Latin word for fun and entertainment._

Solomon

Instead of heading off to the colonies like the majority of his crew, Captain Regald stayed behind on Solomon to overlook the examination of the Federation's beam sword. It wouldn't be a long shot that the various researchers and technicians the Principality had on hand could reverse engineer the technology for their own forces, it was just a matter of time. Time was something they didn't have. Regald knew the end of the war was coming. He knew that if the Federation successfully deployed Mobile Suits of their own the battle on Earth would become a stalemate. Then it would become a battle of resources, which the Principality of Zeon had a limited supply of.

"Captain." One of the engineers called out. "Vice Admiral Dozle wants to see you in his office."

"I'll be on my way shortly." The time to ask for new ships, new Mobile Suits and most importantly new soldiers was upon him. They had lost many good men and women in the last battle, many of which were too young to die, and now he would most likely be assigned more young recruits that were fresh out of training, barely of age, but all ready to die for the cause. Everyone in Side 3 seemed to want to stand up against the oppression of the Federation. To protect the freedom of the citizens of the colonies. But Regald wasn't sure what would happen if and when they won the war. He trusted Dozle Zabi, but the rest of the Zabi family didn't amount to much in his eyes. _I don't like the direction all of this is heading._

0079.08.19 Ludus Colony, Side 3

Seiga had spent the last hour sitting in a recliner in his hotel room. He had been thinking about how the civilians acted so normal, as if there was no war. As if there weren't thousands of people dying every week. As if the human population hadn't been dropped to almost half of what it was a year ago. He envied their ability to ignore the outside world, but he almost understood how they could carry on their daily lives as they did. Inside the colony there wasn't much sign of war. There was a small military base located on Ludus, but it was near the spaceport, far away from the attractions that kept everyone so busy.

"I'm almost done." Natasha called out from the bedroom.

She had spent the last hour and a half getting ready for dinner. A dinner that Barry invited them to. _"I need my wingman." _Barry had said. Seiga wasn't sure what to make of it, wasn't sure if Barry needed someone to verify his war stories or if it was for something else entirely. He didn't know what kind of man Barry was outside of the Military, it wasn't something that ever came up in the their conversations.

"Do you think Barry has a date?" Natasha asked, still in the other room.

"I'm guessing that's the case." Seiga replied as he stood up from the chair. He had really appreciated the simulated gravity on their leave. Being able to sit in a comfy chair and actually feel the comfort from the soft cushion was so relieving.

"I wonder what kind of girl it is." Natasha, she was closer to the door now, most likely grabbing her coat before coming out. "I hope she's not some cheap floozy or a bimbo he picked up at a bar."

"I think Barry has more class than that." Seiga said as he picked up his suit jacket. Barry had stressed that the dinner was formal and that the restaurant wouldn't let him in if he wasn't in a suit. Seiga didn't like wearing a suit though, it felt too much like a uniform and the rental he got was almost as stiff. "At least I hope so."

"How do I look?" Natasha asked as she exited the bedroom. Seiga had never seen her dressed up before and it was almost jaw dropping. He had always thought she was beautiful before, but she never really showed it off. Her black dress was long, going down past her knees, with a slit that ran up mid thigh and showed just enough cleavage to still be classy. Her blonde hair was styled differently from her usual straight down to the shoulders look. Her bangs were swept to one side, staying just above her right eye, curled strands came down in front of her ears and the rest was pulled back into an intricate bun.

"Are you sure that you're a soldier?" He asked as he put on his jacket. "You look stunning."

"We have plenty of time left to get there." She started saying as she put on her coat. "Do you want to take a walk through the park on the way there? The lady at the front desk said it looked gorgeous at night."

"A gorgeous view with a gorgeous lady? How can I refuse?"

Outside the air was cool and the ground was still damp from the light rain that was scheduled earlier in the day. The street lamps illuminated the walkway through the park all the way up to the fountain in the center. A statue of an man riding a horse sprouted water up as several small children tossed coins in to make a wish.

"It seems like a lifetime ago that we were that young." Natasha said reminiscing. Seiga wrapped his arm around her as they sat down on a bench. "I wish things could go back to the way they were."

"We're still young." Seiga said as he looked up. If he was on Earth he would be able to say he looked up at the sky, but here on the colony he could just see more of the city through the clouds. "But I don't think anything will ever be like it used to. Not after this war. Not after what we've been through."

"So how do you guys like Ludus so far?" Barry asked as he pulled a chair out for his date. Seiga almost didn't recognize her, but it was Teresa Howell from the _Javad_.

"It's been very nice so far. There is a lot more scenery here than on Quintzem." Seiga replied as he pulled the chair next to Teresa out for Natasha.

"Natasha, this is Teresa." Barry said as he indicated to his date. "Teresa this is Natasha. I don't think you two have ever met in person."

"Oh, the female pilot is as pretty as all the guys say." Natasha said as he shook Teresa's hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you face to face."

Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves at the dinner. Barry told some jokes, even some that were actually funny. Everyone laughed when Wong showed up with two dates and even when he started stumbling over everything after a few drinks. Seiga couldn't remember the last time he had this much fun.

0079.09.10 Ludus, Side 3

Week after week went by and Seiga wondered how Captain Reglad had managed to get the crew this much much shore leave. Nearly a month went by since they arrived back at Solomon. This leave almost felt like retirement instead of a small break. Not that he didn't enjoy his time off. On the contrary he enjoyed having so much time to spend with Natasha. Together they would spend their time reminiscing about the past and taking advantage of the colony's many attractions. Dinners at fancy restaurants, theatrical shows, and the beautiful scenery.

Seiga was staring at the clock as he lay on his bed. Like he often did aboard the _Lutherian_. He watched the hands on the clock move slowly, waiting for them to get passed 0600 hours. It was still early and he didn't want to wake Natasha. He wanted her to enjoy the time they had to rest.

It was so quiet he could hear Natasha breathing softly behind him. She rolled over and laid against his back. Her skin was warm to the touch. As she slept he could feel her twitch in her sleep. _I hope its a good dream._

Seiga sat up slowly, trying not to move to suddenly, and walked out of the room. In the common room it was cool, but the carpet didn't freeze his feet like the cold metal of a ship. He made his way into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water.

_Ring ring ring._

"Of course." He said as he hurriedly walked to the phone."Hello?" He said quietly as he held the phone close to his head, but there was no point. He could hear Natasha in the next room rustling around on the bed, no doubt annoyed by the early call. The voice on the other line was familiar. Seiga was almost sure it was Lieutenant Commander Vaughn, Regald's second in command. "All right. Yes, we'll be on the next shuttle." Seiga replied as he put down the receiver.

"Who was that?" Natasha asked as she walked into the room, tightening her robe.

_ "It was LC Vaughn." Seiga said as he sat down in the recliner. Natasha half sat on his lap and the arm chair and leaned close to him. "Our shore leave ends tomorrow."_

0079.10.05 _Lutherian,_ En Route to Earth

Captain Regald raked his fingers through the extra length in his beard before resting his head on his hand. He was frustrated that his fleet was assigned to another bullshit mission and he was starting to think that the command structure of the Zeon Space Force was out of sync. They had been assigned as an escort to a Zanzibar-Class Cruiser as it made its way into Earth's atmosphere. Dozle had also mentioned to him that Kycilia, his older sister, also had a small fleet escorting a ship to Earth as well. He wondered why the two didn't put their forces together and make one flight plan.

Regardless he hoped that such a trivial assignment would be good to break in the new crew members and get everyone warmed up that spent the last two months sitting around. A few things had him worried though and one in particular lingered in his thoughts. In the last week new reports flooded in from several fronts on the Earth that detailed an enemy Mobile Suit that was equipped with beam weaponry. It didn't bode well with Regald. Over the last month he had followed the reports being sent to Dozle about another new type of ship which carried Mobile Suits, but the descriptions didn't match up to the one they encountered at Luna II. It was enough for him to begin to question the outcome of the war. _The Federation has been busy while our forces sit idle and confused._

"Two hours until we reach the rendezvous point, Captain." Lieutenant Commander Vaughn alerted as he looked over the ship's plotted course.

"Keep four Mobile Suits on stand by. We're too far out to get careless." Captain Regald ordered.

Natasha sat at the small table in the corner of the Mess Hall wishing she could drag it out towards the center of the room, but it was bolted down. She knew it was for a good reason, but she still really hated being stuck in the corner lately. The metal table top was cold on her forearms and she found herself wishing for the warm intricate table cloths they had seen in many restaurants on Ludus. Seiga approached the table and made things better and worse at the same time.

He plopped down in the only other chair at the small table after setting a tray of rations down in front of her. Her mind switched from the cold table to the cold tasteless food. She was worried that her time away from the ship had changed her too much. The break was so long that she almost got used to things like sleeping in and going outside to enjoy the day. Seiga placed his hand over hers, enveloping it with warmth.

"Your hands are so cold." He said softly. "Next time we're at Solomon, I know a guy who sells things from the colonies, I'm sure I can get us one of those thermal table cloths."

Natasha was flattered, but all she really wanted to do right now was go home. "Sometimes I wish we could just quit." She said ever so quietly. "Just go back home. Just the two of us."

"I know." Seiga replied, trying to keep his voice down. "But I can't just quit. Not after all that's happened."

She knew he was serious. Seiga didn't want to quit because then it would like everyone died for nothing. He joined the Space Forces to help attain freedom for their families. His family. "I know."

0079.10.06 _Rengaru_

Captain Grant entered the bridge and in the usual fashion asked, "Status report?" As he had done the last ten times he came to the bridge. The _Rengaru_ was tailing several Musai-Class cruisers and a single Zanzibar-Class ship as they approached the Earth from the moon. He had bet the ships were doing more than just patrolling, but he didn't want to attack them until he knew what they were up to.

"No change in their course, but we have picked up several other objects on an intercepting course with the targets."

"Keep our distance." Captain Grant ordered. "Remember that we are only observing at this time." He adjusted his hat and sat down in his chair. "Have Lieutenant Lamrok prep his unit and stay on standby, we can't be too lax here."

"Sir, there's a transmission coming through, it's being broadcast around the world."

Eric sat in his room aboard the new ship he was assigned to. It was a supply ship that had been gutted and turned into a transport slash carrier. He didn't like it here. There weren't many people to talk to and the ship was small. He had yet to even meet up with the other pilots he was supposed to fly with, save for the lone dark skinned boy that was on the same transport ship as him. Jamel Tyson, a young recruit who had been trained briefly during his stay at Luna II. Eric wondered what the boy could do in a real combat situation. _We'll find out soon-_

The monitor in his room flared up. The image of a white haired man in a Zeon uniform burned into the screen. He recognized the man as a member of the Zabi family. _Gihren._ He thought. A fairly large picture of a young man filled the background like a painted sky. Eric was almost sure that it was another member of the Zabi family, but didn't recognize him.

"We have lost a hero to our glorious and noble cause, but does this foreshadow our defeat? No. It is a new beginning. Compared to Earth Federation the military resources of Zeon is less than one thirtieth of theirs. Despite this major difference, how is it that we have been able to fight the fight for so long? It is because our goal in this war is a righteous one. It's been over fifty years since the elite of the Federation, consumed by greed began a war against our blessed empire! Never forget the times when the Federation has trampled us! We, the Principality of Zeon, have had a long and arduous struggle to achieve glory for our great nation. My beloved brother, Garma Zabi, was sacrificed. Why? The war is at a stalemate. Perhaps many of you have become complacent."

"The Federation has polluted our most cherished systems for merely the sake of their own greed! We must send them a message, but not composed of words. We have wasted too much time with words. We need action now. The Earth elite must be taught a strong lesson for their evil corruption. This is only the beginning of our war. We have been putting more and more money into our efforts towards making our military stronger than ever. The Federation has done the same."

"Many of your fathers and brothers have perished valiantly in the face of a contemptible enemy. We must never forget what the Federation has done to our people! These Brave men have shown us these virtues through their own valiant sacrifice. By focusing our anger and sorrow, we are finally in a position where victory is within our grasp, and once again, our most cherished nation will flourish. Victory is the greatest tribute we can pay those who sacrifice their lives for us! Rise, our people, Rise! Take your sorrow, and turn it into anger! Zeon thirsts for the strength of its people! SIEG ZEON!"

"SIEG ZEON! SIEG ZEON! SIEG Zeon!" The crowd on the monitor chanted as the screen faded to black. Seiga had never seen Gihren Zabi so fired up before. He had never heard a speech with such passion. The man spoke with absolute certainty and a strong resolve. _Is victory really so close?_

0079.10.06 _Lutherian_

"Captain, we have a visual on the second fleet." Vaughn alerted as Captain Regald entered the bridge. "It seems they are ahead of schedule. The Zanzibar in their formation is already moving into the atmosphere."

"Tell our ships to take it slow, have our guest set a course for atmospheric entry as well."

"Just spotted several engine flashes from the second fleet. They've launched Mobile Suits."

"Open a channel, I want to know what the hell is going on over there!"

"Right away, Captain."

One of the monitor's above Captain Regald powered on, revealing the face of a young man. Regald hated seeing young captains, it reminded him too much of his son. The man was barely thirty years old, but his face was stained with guilt of lost lives. Captain Regald could see it in his eyes. It was something he saw every day in the mirror.

"This is Captain Straum, we request that you retreat after the ship you're escorting enters the atmosphere." The young man said.

"Retreat?" It looks as if you are about to enter battle." Captain Regald said as he pulled the monitor on the arm of his chair around. Visual footage of Kycilia's ships filled the screen. They had all turned around and were heading in the direction they approached from. "Is there some enemy ships that followed you?"

"Nothing for you to worry about." Captain Straum said with a smug look. "We'll show these Federation dogs that they aren't welcome in space."

"Captain, Ramba Ral's Zanzibar is entering the atmosphere now." Vaughn alerted. "Do you want me to turn the ship around?"

"Captain Straum, this is your last chance to accept our assistance. I would rather not abandon any Zeon soldiers in need of help."

"We do not need the assistance of Vice Admiral Dozle's ships." Straum said, his voice filled with arrogance. "Pull back and let us handle this business."

"You heard the man, Vaughn." Regald said with a disappointed tone. "Have everyone turn back. We're done here."

0079.10.06 _Rengaru_

"Captain, the second Zanzibar has entered the atmosphere and it appears that the first group of ships are heading this way."

"Nothing we can do about the two ships heading to Earth now." Captain Grant said pulled at the stubble on his chin. "What is that second group of ships doing?"

"They have turned around. It seems like they are heading back the way they came."

"Good, so it's just the three Musai we are facing." Captain Grant said, seemingly reassured that the battle at hand would be easy. "Have Lamrok's team launch."

"Lieutenant Lamrok, your unit has permission to launch." One of the operators relayed.

"Alert the other ships, have them launch the Saberfish."

Vince could feel the nervousness in his hands. It was the first time he would pilot the RGM-79GS GM Command, a mass produced Mobile Suit that was specifically designed for space flight, in real combat. His entire squadron was given mass produced Mobile Suits, watered down versions of the Gundam, and assigned to the _Rengaru_ as it's Mobile Suit force. The GMs were slim and sleek, unlike the Zeon Mobile Suits. It looked plain compared to the Gundam though. No fancy V-crest or anything of the like. Though his GM Command was slightly better performance wise, all of the GMs were supposed to surpass the prototype Gundam in power, but he knew only time would tell if that was true. Over the last month he had spent countless hours running simulations with his squadron, the same simulations that Ensign Shaw had run weeks before him. _I wonder where that guy is._

"Lieutenant Lamrok, your unit has permission to launch." One of the operators on the bridge relayed to him over the comm system. "Orders are to eliminate all targets."

"Roger." He said as he moved his Mobile Suit onto the catapult. _Get a hold of yourself. You've been in battle before, there's no need to be nervous about it._ But the truth was, he was nervous. He had never fought in anything but the Saberfish and he was worried that his finesse with the fighter wouldn't carry over. "Let's move out men."

The catapult launched his GM out into space. The speed was intense and he almost felt as if the orange paint would peel from his Mobile Suit's torso as it was thrust out into space. He put the throttle down, increasing his speed even more. Behind him several more GMs launched behind him. Each of them were the standard RGM-79 GMs. Vince knew that the Federation hadn't had the time to produce enough GMs for every pilot, so he was glad to at least have enough for his unit. Behind the _Rengaru_ several Saberfish launched from the hulls of the Salamis Cruisers.

"Let's show the Zeon what real Mobile Suits can do." Said one of the pilots in Vince's unit. He wanted to tell everyone to be cautious, but he knew everyone wanted to test their mettle in the GMs. Even he himself wanted to see how well he could perform in a Mobile Suit.

As they approached Vince could see the Zakus moving toward them. Most were armed with the drum fed ZMPs that he had been so used to seeing, while others had the Bazooka. There were nine of them in total, three from each Musai cruiser. Vince pushed down on the throttle, nearing himself to top speed, and aimed his Beam Gun at the approaching enemies. The bolt of energy ripped into the fist Zaku it hit, tunneling through the head and out of the lower part of its torso, causing it to explode in a fiery blast. Vince was almost stunned. He had never taken a Zaku out with one shot before. Two shots maybe, but never just one. The kill reassured him. It gave him confidence in his abilities.

"Nice shot, Lieutenant." One of the men under his command said. The rest of the GMs opened fire at the Zakus. Some fired back, but most seemed confused and afraid. Vince knew they had never seen a Mobile Suit that was equipped with a beam weapon.

_These guys never stood a chance._ Vince thought as the Zakus exploded one by one. The regular GMs were equipped with Beam Spray guns, which were like beam pistols. They didn't have the range that his Beam Gun did, but they still did a lot of damage to the Zakus. One Zaku took a hit in it's spiked shoulder and kept coming. It took another hit, tearing the left leg off below the knee. One final blast to the torso ended the Zakus charge as it exploded.

"Keep pushing." Vince said as his GM pulled ahead of the rest. "Let's finish off the ships."

_ A few shots from his Beam Gun and one of the Musai cruisers was filled with holes. The shear difference in power of beam weapons and the conventional shell weapons was immense. Vince was in total awe of how easily the GMs took care of the small Zeon fleet. He looked back and did a quick headcount of his unit. He was pleased to see that all seven of the GMs were still intact. This will turn the tide of the war._

0079.10.16 _Lutherian_

A week had gone by and Regald still hadn't heard any word about the other fleet of ships they encountered just above the Earth's atmosphere. He asked around everywhere he could think of, but none of his contacts or friends could get him an answer. He knew that the three Musai were most likely sank that day. It was all but certain that the Federation had put it's new Mobile Suits into production. Mobile Suits that were equipped with powerful beam weaponry, technology that their own forces hadn't perfected yet.

"Captain, Vice Admiral Dozle wants to speak with you."

"Put it through." He said as he turned the lights on in his office. He preferred to think in the dark. It seemed that everything was in the dark now. Less and less reports came in from the forces on the Earth and now there seemed to be more fighting in space. He pressed a button on his desk, revealing the screen that was built in. "Vice Admiral Dozle, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"My sister Kycilia." He spoke loudly with a hint of displeasure in his voice. "A number of ships under her command have gone missing around the Shoal Zone."

"The Shoal Zone? What kind of ships are we talking about?" Regald said with dismay.

"Supply ships mostly, a few patrols." Dozle paused for a moment. "The Shoal Zone is in our backyard, where Side 5 used to be."

_Where Side 5 used to be._ Regald thought. _Until we destroyed it by fighting with the Federation._

"Regardless of where the ships are going missing, we need to find the ones responsible and put a stop to it." Dozle said. "These reports of Federation Mobile Suits are making me uneasy, Harrison."

"Yes, Vice Admiral." Regald agreed thinking it odd that Dozle, a man of such tenacity, could be made to feel uneasy. "I feel the war is about to take a turn for the worst."

"You may be right, but don't forget that the Principality will not lay down and die. We will fight off the Federation dogs." Even on the monitor Dozle's face looked as hard as steel. "Make sure you put those new Doms to good use, Captain."

In the cockpit of his new MS-09R Rick Dom, Barry sat. He was looking over the systems in the Mobile Suit, still trying to get a feel for it. The Dom, compared to the Zakus, was a high performance Mobile Suit equipped with several thermonuclear engines and came more armored than any of the Zaku variants. Many of the engines were set around the waist of the Mobile Suit, covered with an extension of armor that resembled a skirt. The Dom's face was almost shaped like a plus symbol, with the horizontal bar stretching out further than the vertical. Inside the plus was the ever apparent theme of the Zeon Mobile Suits, the Mono-Eye camera that moved along the tracks inside the face.

Barry wasn't assured by the Mobile Suit's aesthetics. The look of it didn't strike him as powerful, but after looking at the specs and doing a thorough systems check he was almost convinced. Each of the Doms that the _Lutherian_ received were equipped with the H&L-GB05R Bazooka, a weapon that he wasn't particularly fond of. He disliked how slow bazookas were and preferred the speed and ammo capacity of a machine gun. Each Dom was also equipped with a new type of melee weapon, the Heat Saber. The Heat Saber was in reality just a Heat Hawk in sword form. Barry knew the longer reach would come in handy after seeing the Federation Mobile Suit's beam sword. It was a well thought out upgrade from the Heat Hawk.

"Still unsatisfied with it?" Rupert called out from below. "I'm sure the boys want to take one of these apart and tinker with it. We might be able to up its performance a little."

"It's fine." Barry replied, knowing he really would feel better if they stripped it down and gave it a good look over. But the fleet was on a mission, one that could prove dangerous. _Mass produced Mobile Suits are the norm for each side now?_ Barry thought as he leaned over the cockpit's hatch. "For now, just give me two of those MMP-80s off the rack over there."

"We'll put them on in a bit, I'm sure after we catch another break you'll be wanting to take this thing apart with your own two hands."

"Do you guys still have any of the Heat Hawks left over?" Barry asked, thinking about what kind of equipment Seiga might want for his Dom. He knew Seiga didn't mind the bazookas, but lately he had favored the Heat Hawks. "You know how Seiga likes to throw them at the enemy." Rupert chuckled a bit as he gave Barry a wave, signaling that he was going to the storage area.

_I don't know for certain if we'll ever get that break. _Barry said to himself mentally. He dare not speak it aloud, but he was worried after fighting the Federation's Mobile Suit firsthand two months ago.

0079.10.17 _Rengaru_ near the Shoal Zone

On board the _Rengaru_ things were going well for Captain Grant and his crew. For the last week they had successfully ambushed every supply convoy that had come near the Shoal Zone. They had even done it without so much as a single casualty. That alone made up for the fact that the supply convoys were mostly just made up of the lightly armed and armored Papua and Pazock class supply ships, though occasionally they had a Musai escort.

"Captain, the reinforcements are only a day away." One of the operators reminded him, bringing his thoughts back to the present and away from their small victories. "Should we move out of the debris field to contact them?"

"Take us out slow, leave the two Salamis here with four of the GMs. That should leave plenty of firepower here." Captain Grant ordered as he stood up. He was starting to feel really good about his crew. He was impressed with how the bridge crew could almost predict his orders and was even more impressed that the pilots had done so well with the new Mobile Suits. "Did we ever get a report saying how many more GMs we were getting?"

"Negative, Captain."

"I suppose we'll just have to find out when they get here." The Captain was near the door now, looking back at the eight men and women who were working so diligently. "I'm getting some lunch, keep up the good work men."

0079.10.17 _Lutherian_

As Seiga entered the hangar all he could see were Doms. They were such large Mobile suits that took up entirely too much room for his taste. He wished that their new suits were slim like the Federation Mobile Suit that he fought before. He wondered how long it would take for Principality to have that kind of technology. As he looked around he noticed that each of the seven Doms were the same with the exception of two. One of them had been given a coating of blue paint and had been equipped with several Heat Hawks. He knew it was his, just seeing the Heat Hawks was a dead giveaway.

"Hey Barry!" Seiga yelled as he approached the other Dom that was unique from the rest. It had been stripped of its bazooka and held an MMP-80 in each hand. Several extra clips of ammo were hardpointed along the armored skirt as well. "Are you up there?"

"Yeah." Barry yelled down from the cockpit of the Dom. Seiga could hear the sound of a power wrench coming from the cockpit. "I'll be down in a second."

"Don't bother." Seiga said as he kicked off toward the large Mobile Suit. Up close it was even more apparent how much larger the Dom was than the Zakus. The Musai cruisers could only carry two in the hangar and one in the Komusai's compartment, where they could originally keep a total of five Zakus. As he neared the cockpit the low humming sound of the powered wrench disappeared. "What are you doing up there?"

"Oh, you know. The usual." Barry said as Seiga reached the cockpit. Several panels had been pulled off and wires protruded from them like weeds in a ill-fated flowerbed. "Just doing system checks."

"You better get this shit put back together. Captain wants eight on standby now." Seiga said as he pointed at the three newer pilots that entered the hangar. "I'm stuck with these guys, bring me a book or something okay?"

"I'm sure it won't be too bad." Barry said with a grin on his face. "I'll bring you one of Wong's magazines."

"I'll pass." Seiga said, he almost shivered at the thought of touching one of the magazines that Wong _reads._

"Right." Barry closed up the last panel and looked at Seiga. He didn't say a word, instead he tilted his head just slight enough for Seiga to pick up on it.

"Yeah." Seiga said as he backed up, allowing Barry room to stand out on the cockpit's hatch. "Who colored it?"

"Rupert did." Barry said as he stretched his legs outside of the cockpit. Barry smiled and put his hand on Seiga's shoulder. "The Hawks are there for you to play catch with the enemy."

"Any more machine guns?" Seiga asked.

_ "Just one of the MMP-78s."_

0079.10.17 _Lutherian_, Outside the Shoal Zone

"Captain, we've spotted an enemy ship." Vaughn alerted. "The pattern matches the ship we ran into at Luna II."

"So it's them again?" Regald said as he sipped from a thermos. "Have all available Mobile Suits prepare for launch."

"More ships detected." Vaughn alerted again. "One Columbus-class and two Magellan."

"Dammit!" Regald yelled as he slammed his fist down on the arm of his chair. He was baring his teeth, knowing that in a fight with this many ships he could lose. "Take us into the Shoal Zone. We'll set up an ambush if they follow us in."

"Roger, setting course."

"Have each ship make up a separate course heading to the center of the debris field." Regald ordered he brought out the monitor from the side of his chair. "Set up surveillance sensors as we move into the field. I want to know how far behind the enemy is."

0079.10.17 _Rengaru_

"So they're moving into the debris field?" Captain Grant asked himself. "Follow to the edge of the field and wait for the other ships to catch up to us."

"Captain, the _Columbia _reports having four more GMs for us."

"Excellent. How many are attached to the hulls of the battleships?" Captain Grant was glad he had left four GMs back with the Salamis cruisers, there wouldn't have been enough room on board the _Rengaru_ otherwise. The ship could barely hold six Mobile Suits inside the hangar and the other two had to be secured to the hulls of the Salamis cruisers when there wasn't any action.

"Two each." The operator responded.

"Have one of them stay outside the field with the _Columbia._ The other is coming with us." He stated as he looked over the list of supplies the _Columbia _was carrying for them. _So four more pilots as well._ He thought as he got to the list. _David Nash, Jamel Tyson, Cory Parrish and Eric Shaw._ _Eric Shaw?_ The last name on the list had him damn near stunned. Owen Grant never thought that he would see that young pilot again after he got transferred off the _Rengaru _a few months back. Then here he was, getting transferred back.

"The _Columbia_ is pulling up next to us." A different operator alerted. "They are requesting we supply now so they can leave the area."

"Get on with it." Captain Grant said deliberately with enough stress in his voice to show his displeasure. He hated that some of the captains were too afraid to fight the Principality, even after the deployment of the new Mobile Suits. _I bet Eric hates that ship's captain._

Eric was the last to land on the _Rengaru._ His orange and white RGM-79GS landed softly in the hangar as the doors closed behind him. Ahead of him his comrades stood in their Mobile Suits. David Nash was also in a GM Command while both Cory and Jamel were in the standard RGM-79. Eric walked his Mobile Suit over and opened the hatch. In the hangar he could see all the same mechanics that were around when he was originally assigned to the ship.

"So what kind of ship is this anyway?" Cory asked as he hopped out of his GM. "Some kind of carrier?"

"It's a prototype." David Nash said as he also exited his Mobile Suit. "The original plan was to make an entire class of ships out of this design, but it didn't last long. A better design came along and they scrapped the project."

Eric both hated and admired David Nash. The man always seemed to be so informed on top of having natural piloting skills. He did a great job training both Cory and Jamel. He was a real leader, almost like Logan was.

"I'm just glad to be off that ship." Jamel said. His voice was as deep as his skin was dark. "That captain sure was a coward."

"It was just a supply ship." Eric said even though he agreed with Jamel. The _Columbia's_ captain didn't want to stay in the area long enough for any action to occur. Eric assumed it was because he lost a ship early in the war, but he wasn't sure. A lot of the Federation Space Forces still seemed terrified of the Zakus, even still when they had the GMs. "But I am glad to be back on this ship."

"Hey Eric!" A voice rang out in the hangar. Eric was sure it belonged to Vince even before he looked. "I can't believe you got transferred back."

"Vince, good to see you're still alive." Eric said as he pulled Vince up to his Mobile Suit's cockpit. "Where's that hunk of junk Saberfish you pilot?"

He pointed over to another GM Command in the corner of the Hangar. "That's what I fly now."

"Right on." Eric said as he kicked off from his Mobile Suit. "You see I put what was in the crate to good use, eh?"

"Yeah." Vince replied as he kicked off after Eric. A ways away they could both see the v-shaped crest. The glowing yellow eyes. "What do you call it with that head on there?"

"Gundam." Eric replied. "Just call it a Gundam."

0079.10.17 _Lutherian_

"We've entered the debris field, Captain." Vaughn said as he masterfully steered the _Lutherian_ around several large pieces of floating space junk. "Confirmed, our formation is broken. Estimated four hours before we reach the rendezvous point."

"Good." Regald said as he watched the last bit of footage they took of the enemy ships. The Columbus-class supply ship had docked with the large, weird shaped ship they had fought before. He wondered if they were simply getting supplies or reinforcements. "Send Massey up here. Keep all the other pilots on standby. Once the enemy has followed us in, we'll set up an ambush with the Doms based on which direction they go."

"Launching surveillance probes."

"Keep me informed on when those ships come in after us." Regald continued to order. "We should have some time to set up since they resupplied."

Almost an hour passed without anyone saying a word, other than Regald and Massey when he arrived on the bridge. Their conversation was rather quiet, so much so that Natasha didn't get wind of a single word that was said. Even the normal chatter on the comm was gone, nothing but a slight humming noise from the headset's speaker.

"I've got a message from the _Katherine_, Captain." Natasha alerted as she held her headset close to her ear. "They've spotted two Salamis-Class ships in the debris field."

"Dammit, there are ships everywhere!" Regald barred his teeth again. Instead of setting up an ambush of his own, he had fallen into one. "Have Lieutenant Riggs launch to assist them, they only have the four Zakus."

"Lieutenant Riggs, you have clearance to launch. Sending mission data now." Natasha said almost instantly after Regald barked his orders. It was tense on the bridge now, everyone knew that the Captain had been outplayed, but no one wanted to say anything.

"Sir, should we have the fleet regroup now?" Vaughn asked, hoping to get the strategic part of Regald's brain working again.

"No, tell everyone to move to the other side of the debris field." He began looking at the video footage from the surveillance equipment. "The enemy ships have made their way into the field."

"Confirmed both the Magellan and the odd shaped one." Vaughn continued. "Are we still going to set up our own ambush, Captain?"

"Countering an ambush with an ambush?" Regald said sounding more than a little intrigued. "Have Massey prep the Doms. Has Lieutenant Riggs launched yet?"

"He launched the moment you gave the order, Captain."

0079.10.17 _Lutherian, _Shoal Zone

"Lieutenant Riggs, you have clearance to launch." Natasha relayed over the comm. "Sending mission data now."

Barry quickly looked over what was going on. Each of the pilots had their comm set to pick up the chatter from the ships, but Barry wasn't sure that he alone would be enough to help the _Katherine._ None of the other ships mentioned launching a unit to assist and the Captain only gave the order for him. "Roger, moving out."

"Be careful out there." Seiga said as Barry's Dom moved passed his own.

"Same to you." He replied as the makeshift hangar's doors opened. The Dom almost seemed to glide out smoothly into the blackness of space like a fish swimming out to see. Outside there was debris everywhere. Parts of ships. Parts of Mobile Suits and fighters like the Saberfish. But worst of all were the pieces of the colonies. Entire colonies were destroyed here ten months ago. So many lives lost here, but not his. Instead he had help take lives. The area was Loum before it was the Shoal Zone. Was called Side 5 before, but now it was the debris field. In a low whisper he blurted out what his next thought was. "This is where Seiga lost his brother."

"Seiga." Massey said over the comm as Barry's Dom disappeared into space. "You doing okay over there."

"I'm fine." He replied, but in truth he wasn't. Ever since they were assigned this mission he had felt an uneasiness. Felt that he would return to the very spot where he lost the last of his family. And now it was true. They were in the debris of Loum, where Nolan had been designated missing in action. _This place shouldn't be defiled with another battle._ He thought. _Too many have died here already. _Even after losing his brother to the Federation forces, Seiga never thought of continuing to fight as a way to get revenge. He knew the risk was there when they both joined the Military in the first place.

"Don't worry Massey." Rex Carter chimed in. "We'll take all the enemies out with these new Doms. Poor little Seiga won't even have to lift a finger."

"I hope that's true." Massey said sternly. There was something bothering him, but Seiga couldn't imagine what it was. Massey was always calm and collected, even when he was angry.

"It's been confirmed the enemy has entered the debris field." Natasha again relayed information over the comm. "Lieutenant Commander Massey, you have permission to put the ambush into play."

"All right boys." Wong said with false cheer in his tone. "Let's get to work. Lead the way boss man."

Massey's Dom slid along the floor of the hangar and out into the openness of space, followed one by one by the rest of the pilots. Seiga watched as the younger pilots eagerly pushed each other out. When he was the only one left in the hangar he pushed forward slightly. Savoring every moment he could of still being on the ship. He felt like it might be the last time he could step foot here. He wasn't sure if it was his gut or something else, but he knew the upcoming battle wasn't going to end well. Still he proceeded out of the hangar, following close behind his comrades. He was back at Loum for a second time.

0079.10.17 _Rengaru_

Captain Grant watched as the anti-air turrets shot up each of the Zeon probes that were dropped out around the edge of the debris field. He liked that his crew was quick to pick up on them and even more he liked that they knew the enemy would be waiting in ambush.

"I believe we got them all." One of the operators alerted. "What do we do now, Captain?"

"They are probably going to ambush us as we come into the field, as I'm sure you all have guessed." Several of them nodded their heads as they turned back to him. "So instead of charging straight in we'll use the Mobile Suits we have hear to set up a spearhead."

"What about our ships still inside the field?"

"There's nothing we can do about them now," Captain Grant started. "Once we launch our Mobile Suits we'll proceed into the field slowly to provide back up."

"Are you sure about this, Captain?" The helmsman asked. Owen had never heard any of them so uncertain before. It was risky to charge into an ambush, but he was confident in his crew and the pilots he commanded. "We'll move in cautiously. Have faith in everyone."

Vince pressed on the throttle as the Eric and the other new pilots launched ahead of him. Each of them seemed to move with a finesse that he hadn't yet attained. Behind him, the three members of his unit followed. The other four members were already in the debris field and he knew they could already be fighting the Zeon. It had him a little frustrated that he wasn't there to fight along side them, but he knew he would get the chance. And he was even more certain that as long as Eric was here the battle would end in victory. Vince could see the fire burning in that man's eyes. The vengeful flames that matched the yellow glow of the Gundam's own eyes.

"Spread out, but don't get too far." A voice shot out over the comm. It was calm and in control. Vince was sure it belonged to David Nash, whom Eric said was a natural leader. "Lamrok, keep your unit close behind."

"Roger." Ahead of them there was only debris and the black veil of space. So much debris filled the area it was unsettling. He knew that the Federation was dealt a hefty blow here. It was even more apparent after seeing derelict battleships, huge chunks of melted metal and the many destroyed fighters. He hadn't been here when the battle of Loum took place, instead he was stationed at Luna II, when the Federation Space Forces had been nearly annihilated.

"Keep your eyes open." Eric said over the comm. "I know that they are out here."

_How does he know for certain?_ Vince wondered.

As Seiga moved through the debris field he could feel a pressure building up inside his head. It felt like there was too much thought in his mind. It was something he couldn't quite put into words or express properly. _It feels like someone is standing on my head._ He finally thought to himself.

"We'll set up here." Massey said as they approached a half destroyed Musai. "Carter, Combs and Sloan. You guys are here."

"Over there looks good." Wong said as his Dom pointed to another sunken ship.

"Right. Seiga, Wong. You guys are with me over there." Massey said. He still had that strain in his voice like he was worried or nervous about something. Seiga still couldn't quite figure out what had him so shaky. "Now we just wait."

"Engine flashes." Wong said softly. "Looks like we won't have to wait long."

"Can you make out what it is?" Massey asked as he kept his Dom hidden behind the wreckage.

"Looks like Mobile Suits." Wong said with plenty of certainty in his voice. "I see four."

"Four? We could take them easily." Rex said safely hidden away behind the destroyed Musai.

"Four more behind them. That makes eight." Wong said as he continued to watch. "Heading this way."

"We can get a few in the initial attack." Massey said as he checked his bazooka. "After that, it'll be a toss up."

"ETA fifteen seconds. If you've got any prayers better say them now." Wong said.

"I have a shot." Derrick Sloan said, his voice shaky and filled with fear.

"Not yet." Massey said. His voice was more calm now than it was before. "Wait for my signal."

"I've got the shot." Derrick said again. "I'm taking it."

"No! Don't!" Massey yelled, but it was too late. Derrick's Dom rocketed out from behind the cover that the Musai provided and fired a shell from his bazooka. The four enemy Mobile Suits in the front moved to evade and one fired a pink bolt of mega particles at Derrick. The beam barely scraped the Mobile Suit's leg armor, but over the comm it sounded like someone had cut into the poor kid's stomach. He was wailing and screaming as his Mobile Suit turned and boosted away. "Shit!" Massey yelled furiously. "Go! Go! Get them from below."

By the time Seiga and Wong peered out from behind cover the first group of four Mobile Suits had passed by them and the second group was moving by just as fast. Seiga fired a round from his bazooka, hitting the rearmost enemy in the back. Wong fired a round from his bazooka in rapid succession which tore through the ass end of the enemy Mobile Suit. It exploded in a glorious display of orange, red and yellow.

Massey charged after the others from behind. He fired a few rounds from his bazooka before tossing it to the side and drawing his Heat Saber. The blade glowed a bright yellow as his Dom gripped it tight. One of the Mobile Suits turned around and fired a shot from the small beam pistol it had in its hand. The pink bolt blew right by Massey's shoulder as he continued to charge in. The enemy put up his shield to block, but the blade cut right through and slammed horizontally into the torso. The Mobile Suit's armor heated to a deep orange as the blade cut through it's chest.

"They're splitting up." Seiga said as three of the Mobile Suits chased after Derrick while the rest headed off further into the debris field. "Think they've spotted the _Lutherian?_"

"Go with Carter and Combs. Wong and I will head back to the ship." Massey ordered as his Dom left behind the enemy Mobile Suit he split in half. "Meet up with us when you're done."

_ What if I don't get "done?"_ He wanted to ask aloud.

0079.10.17 The Shoal Zone

Eric pressed forward in his Mobile Suit, chasing the large skirted behemoth ahead of him. He thought it was sad that even the new model Zeon Mobile Suits could not outrun his own. He could feel the terror resonating from the pilot ahead of him, could almost see it. Somehow he knew the boy had screamed for his life when the first shot from Eric's Beam Gun grazed the leg of his Mobile Suit.

Behind him, Vince and one of the men under Vince's command followed. Behind them were two more of the skirted Mobile Suits. He could feel that each of them were equally as terrified as the one ahead of him. Eric didn't know how or why he could tell, but he enjoyed it. It fed his ego. Showed him that he was truly a menacing foe. But there was one thing that bothered him. There was an immense sadness darkening the path behind them. Not directly behind him where Vince and the other GM pilot were and not behind them either, where the two skirted Mobile Suits were. But it was even further back.

"Eric, what are we going to do about the two behind us?" Vince asked in a frantic tone. "We can't just keep running after the one in front."

"Then I'll just take him out now." Eric said as he aimed the Beam Gun at the skirted Mobile Suit out front. "Bang."

The bolt of mega particles ripped through space itself, plowing through the enemy Mobile Suit's thick armored torso. Eric immediately brought himself to a stop and turned around as the other two GMs flew by. The remaining two enemies split off and turned in for an arcing attack run from each side. Eric stood his ground as they both charged him simultaneously. A quick tap on the thrusters and his Mobile Suit moved out of harm's way. As one of the enemies passed by, Eric fired his Beam Gun again. This time he didn't aim a killing blow. Instead he shot the enemy Mobile Suit's head off, taking out it's main camera.

As Barry approached the four Zakus they swarmed around in a large bunch with the four Federation Mobile Suits. In the distance he could see the _Katherine_ become overwhelmed by the two Salamis Cruisers that were lying in wait in the debris field. _So this was all a trap?_ He thought as he pushed his Dom forward. As he got closer the battle started to become one sided. One by one the Zakus started getting shot down.

"Hold on." Barry said as he pushed his foot down harder on the throttle. It seemed no matter how fast he went that he wouldn't make it in time. First Jason Fulton's IFF disappeared, followed by Marissa Schultz and then Gayle Lewis, until only Joshua Berg was left. As Barry got close enough to fire upon the enemy he could see what kind of struggle it was to fight against four enemy Mobile Suits at once. It reminded him of how the Federation Suit at Luna II fought off everyone that day and yet it still left the battle in an operating condition.

Lieutenant Berg fired a barrage from his MMP-78 as the four Mobile Suits circled him. The only thing keeping him alive was his ability to use the debris as cover. Barry opened fire on one of the enemies as he swooped by. The 90mm rounds beat small impact craters into the Mobile Suit's armor like nails in soft wood.

"Riggs?" Berg's voice shot out over the comm. Barry hated that the man let his guard down for that split second to speak. One of the enemy Mobile Suits charged him, beam sword in hand, piercing the blade into his Command Zaku's torso. Barry could almost picture Lieutenant Berg's body being melted away as the blade cut through the cockpit. The Mobile Suit stopped just long enough for him to give it a quick look over. The overall design was similar to the Mobile Suit they encountered at Luna II, but was different at the same time. It kept the similar small frame, but had a significantly different looking head. It looked almost like a helmet for a normal suit. Nothing extravagant. The color scheme was also different, it was orange on the upper torso and shoulder pauldrons, but white on the rest of the body. Along the shoulders the machine's designation was painted in thick black lettering: **RGM-79 GM**.

"These are GMs?" He asked himself as he fired another volley from this dual MMP-80s. The increased frame strength of his own new Mobile Suit made him happy. The recoil from firing both machine guns simultaneously was no longer unmanageable, but instead just threw his aim off slightly. The spread was fairly large, but it still engulfed one of the GMs in a hail of bullets. "They don't seem nearly as powerful as the one we fought at Luna II."

As he began evading the three remaining GMs he could see the _Katherine_ fighting the two Salamis Cruisers. All three ships had taken extensive damage. The _Katherine_ had lost it's main bridge and was getting slammed with small missiles from each of the Salamis Cruisers. He wondered why he was the only reinforcements that were sent over to this area. _Where is the _Javad,_ the _Noble Desert_?_

Natasha sat impatiently at her station as the _Lutherian _moved slowly through the debris field. Moving further away from the battle. Even worse was the fact that there was too much interference for her to monitor the comm chatter. For the first time in the war since Loum, she was deaf to the Seiga's battle. It was kind of ironic that they were here again. Back at Loum. They were back at Loum, where Captain Regald made the mistake that cost him the life of his own son. Now he was going to make the mistake that cost her the life of her love. All she could do to not scream was bite her thumb.

Captain Regald had been quiet for some time now, sitting in his chair watching the occasional flash on the monitor that was mounted onto the arm rest of his chair. Natasha wondered what he was thinking, only sending the six Mobile Suits to take on such a large force. Even if they did have the advantage of surprise attacking the enemy ships, there were still three fully capable battleships that they knew of. The surveillance equipment had been destroyed, cutting off the information of how many of the ships actually entered the debris field after them, but Natasha knew that at least the large one that they fought with at Luna II would be chasing them. _Something about that ship._

Everything seemed to move so slow for Seiga. Even at the Dom's top speed he felt as if he was barely moving through the debris field. It was like nothing he had ever felt before. An immense pressure had built up in his head that felt like it was going to make him burst inside his helmet. He reached for the seal of his helmet and released it. The air in the Dom's cockpit was just as stale, but it was somewhat better than the air going through his normal suit. Ahead of him he could see the three Federation Mobile Suits and his two remaining allies: Rex Carter and Jacob Combs. Both were young and arrogant, making Seiga care little for either. But they were still his comrades. He still had to save them, or at least attempt to.

The lead enemy Mobile Suit had just killed Derrick Sloan, the man who jumped the gun and ran like a coward, what seemed like minutes ago, but had actually happened seconds beforehand. Leaving Carter and Combs chasing the three Federation Mobile Suits. The lead suit had stopped almost instantly after killing their friend and turned his attention on the two young pilots. Even at the distance he was at, Seiga could see the lead Mobile Suit almost as clear as day. It was the same color as the other two, orange torso leaving the rest of the body white, but had a familiar look about it. A v-shaped crest adorned on its forehead. Two glowing yellow eyes that seemed to see straight into his soul. _Its the same one as before._ He thought as he could feel himself start to choke on his on words. _Maybe not the same Mobile Suit, but it's the same guy._ He had no idea how he knew that. He just did. It wasn't something he could explain.

"Don't charge that one!" Seiga called out as both Rex Carter and Jacob Combs split for a pincer attack. Each had their Heat Sabers drawn and were approaching at, what Seiga could only assume as everything moved so slow to him, top speed. Then before the enemy Mobile Suit even moved, he saw it. He saw it move even before it actually did so. It may have only been an instant difference, but if he was in Jacob Combs' Mobile Suit the battle would be over. Instead the Mobile Suit, the _Gundam_, moved out of the way. _The Gundam?_ He knew it was called that, but the designation along the left shoulder of the Mobile Suit gave it a different name. He knew it wasn't a GM Command though. It **was** a Gundam. "Get out of there!"

Everything seemed to speed up slightly. The Gundam fired it's beam weapon at Combs, destroying the head of his Dom. Immediately after, Carter rushed the monstrous machine again, swinging his blade wildly. The enemy pilot seemed to evade with such ease, that it made Seiga envious. After several full swings from Carter, Seiga felt he was close enough to make his move. But instead of firing at the Gundam we went for one of the other Mobile Suits. He knew it was going to be an unfair fight. He didn't have numbers on his side any longer. Combs was out for at least a few minutes until he could reroute the Dom's visual feed through other cameras and Carter wasn't going to last long against the Gundam one on one. A few rounds from his MMP-78 burst into the GM's armor, binding the metal armor with the machinery beneath in a heated bullet hole. _Armor isn't as tough as before?_ Seiga wondered as he fired off two more rounds, each landing squarely in the enemy Mobile Suit's cockpit.

Vince watched as Eric masterfully evaded the two Mobile Suits that charged him in rapid succession. The first was easily taken out with a quick shot to the head. It reminded him of the old movies he used to watch, where mobsters would put the gun to the back of some guy's head and blow it clean off. _Execution Style_. He thought. The other viciously slashed at him with the Heat Saber it held in it's grasp. Eric continued to dodge as the skirted Mobile Suit struck at him again and again.

"Another Dom coming." Eric said over the comm.

"Dom? What the hell is that?" Vince asked himself as he looked around. To his right he could see a blue figure approaching at a high speed. It fired several rounds from the machine gun it carried, all of which were directed at his wingman, Kyle. Kyle had been one of his most promising pilots throughout the war, even more so now that they had the new Mobile Suits. But in the flash of the machine gun fire his life was extinguished.

"Move." Eric ordered as he fired a blast from his Beam Gun. The bolt passed right over Vince as it went straight for the Blue Dom. "Take these two, this one is mine."

Eric maneuvered his Gundam away from the advancing Dom and bolted straight for the approaching blue colored one. Vince wondered what the deal was. _All that talk about killing every Zeon you see and you leave these two for me?_

Eric finally knew where the overwhelming sorrow that spread throughout the area radiated from. It was this single blue Dom. Yet in all the sadness that came from the feeling, there was a strange familiarity to it. Like he had felt it before, just not at such a strength as it was now. As he approached the Dom head on he fired the head mounted Vulcans, filling the space in front of him with a hail of bullets. The Zeon Mobile Suit seemed to not waver in its flight path. He felt a sort of confidence emitting from it. _They know the Vulcans can't do much from a distance?_

As he the two Mobile Suits neared one another each slowed to aim. Eric pulled up his Beam Gun and prepped it to fire, while the Dom drew an item from behind it's back and arched it's arm back. _He's going to charge at me with a melee weapon from that far? _Eric fired just as the Dom strafed to the side. It slung it's arm forward, releasing an object mid-swing. It came at him at such a high speed he barely had time to dodge, much less see what it was. But after a moment he knew. He knew it was a Heat Hawk. Something about the coloration of the Mobile Suit told him that. _It's the same pilot from Luna II._

He was down a Heat Hawk and half a clip of ammunition, but Seiga felt he could still take on the Gundam. He still had one spare drum magazine and another hawk as well as the Heat Saber that was hardpointed on the back of his Dom. The pressure in his head seemed to get worse as he neared the Gundam. There was something about it that brought out his sadness. Maybe it was his instincts telling him that, that Mobile Suit, was going to be the death of him. But he didn't have time to lay down and die now. The GM was busy with Rex Carter and it was just one on one with the Gundam from here. He hoped the battle wouldn't last long and he hoped to end it with one last move.

He opened fire with his MMP-78 as he strafed around the Gundam in a circle. He fired off fifty rounds or so as the enemy machine blocked with it's large rectangular shield until he got close. He flung the machine gun forward, slamming it into the Gundam's shield as he reached for both the Heat Saber and the second Heat Hawk. The swing from his Saber caught the shield, cutting it in half as he chucked the Heat Hawk underhanded toward the Gundam.

0079.10.17 The Shoal Zone

David Nash was only fourteen hundred kilometers away from the enemy ship, a Chivvay-class heavy cruiser. A ship with enough firepower and anti air to make even a veteran pilot keep their distance. But not many of the Federation's pilots had Mobile Suits, much less the skill that he commanded with one. The only thing he was worried about was keeping the rookie pilot, Jamel Tyson, alive. The boy had barely been of age when the war started and had yet to see live combat until today. "Tyson, keep your distance from that ship."

"Roger." His voice was deep despite being only seventeen.

"We'll stay back here while Nash does his work." Cory Parrish chimed in. "Keep on the lookout for enemy Mobile Suits."

"All right, here we go." David liked that these two pilots had no problems following orders. Unlike Ensign Shaw, who did what he wanted, when he wanted. It was almost as if he didn't want to work as a unit.

"What about Lieutenant Lamrok and Ensign Shaw?" Jamel asked just as David pushed forward. "You think they need backup?"

"They're taking care of the riffraff back there for us." Nash said as he made his foot heavy on the throttle. Ahead the Chivvay had begun to take aim with the anti-air turrets. He knew he would need full concentration for this, so he flipped a switch on the left hand console. A heavy guitar riff echoed through his helmet's radio. "Watch how this is done."

"Three enemy Mobile Suits coming in from seven o'clock." Alerted one of the operators. A loud cough came from the Captain's chair as Natasha turned around. Droplets of whatever liquid he had been drinking was strewn in front of him all the way to the forward monitor. He had a surprised look on his face as he stared into his monitor. "Should we try contacting the other ships for support?"

"Helmsman, increase speed and get us out of this debris field." Captain Regald ordered, ignoring the operator's suggestion. "Have the anti air guns keep the enemy Mobile Suits at bay. Fire the main cannons if you have to."

"Captain." Natasha interrupted as she spun back around in her chair. "Lieutenant Commander Massey is on his way back."

"The lead Mobile Suit is charging us." Vaughn alerted as the forward screen depicted the large 18 meter tall Mobile Suit darting towards them. At that moment, all Natasha could think about was how Captain Regald left them defenseless and how this was going to be the end for everyone on board.

"Fire!"

As the Heat Hawk flew at him, Eric could feel the enemy pilot's fear resonating from the weapon. It was like nothing he had ever felt before. An immense fear that was mixed with sadness. Mixed feelings that Eric himself didn't have anymore. It was almost confusing how someone could fight with such an overwhelming pool of emotion. The Heat Hawk continued to fly at him, in slow motion. He was caught up in the moment and his mind was running on high gear. He could see everything. Hear everything. Feel everything. He could even the confidence radiating from Vince as he fought off the other Dom, but only enough to know it was there. There was something different about the pilot he was facing. Some kind of connection that they shared, but he didn't know what.

The Heat Hawk was right at the chest of his Mobile Suit now, flying straight like an arrow, the blade burning crimson red as the tip cut into the armor. At the last instant he engaged the verniers enough for the Gundam to twist as the blade passed by. In all this time the Dom was still swinging the Heat Saber from the strike that sliced his shield in two. As Eric finished his spin he spun up the Vulcans.

"Everyone to the lifeboats!" Captain Regald yelled as he waved everyone to the door. The ship shook violently as the enemy Mobile Suit blasted a hole through the rear of the ship. On the bridge several of the consoles overloaded; sending sparks, broken glass and keys shooting up into the ceiling. Everyone clambered towards the two exits, hoping to escape being sealed in by the blast doors. "Go! We're abandoning ship!"

The _Lutherian_ itself was still firing off anti air rounds at the enemy Mobile Suit, which had flawlessly avoided the barrage so far. The forward main cannons had taken a direct hit from the enemy's beam weapon, cutting the barrels and leaving the platform a twisted design of molten metal. The rear hull was starting to split into several pieces around the gaping opening left behind by the beam weapon. All the while the enemy Mobile Suit continued to circle the ship, evading the anti air rounds and taking pot shots at the ship's turrets.

Natasha felt the rumble of an explosion as she made her way through the halls. Many of the crew had split up after leaving the bridge. Some went for possessions, others went for friends in other sections of the ship. Mostly everyone including herself darted through the halls toward the lifeboats. Navigating the halls had become like navigating a maze. Blast doors closed off many of the pathways and several lifeboats had already launched, leaving only empty airlocks. Another explosion rocked the ship and if it hadn't been for the six others just like it she might not have known it was from the anti air turrets and their ammunition exploding.

The hallway she was currently traveling in had been damaged by one of the explosions. The left hand wall had a large gaping hole, big enough for a small car to pass through. The entire area had been stained black from the initial burn of the oxygen, but there was no more oxygen to burn. At least in this section of the ship. For once she was glad to be wearing the normal suit. She usually hated it, because it was so bulky and large that it was hard to move in. The standard crewman's normal suit was twice the size of the pilot's. Nevertheless, without the suit she would have died long before now. Ahead she could see one of the blast doors closing. She pushed off the floor as hard as she could and still barely made it before the heavy door slammed shut.

A woman's screams echoed from further up in the hallway. Terrible screams of someone in pain, wailing hysterically. Natasha could see a trail of reddish droplets that had been pulled down the hall before the blast door sealed the air inside. As she continued on the screams got louder.

"HELP ME!" The woman screamed in a barely understandable mixture of crying and yelling. Natasha rounded a corner to see one of the operators from the bridge leaning against the wall. Blood leaked from her hands as they covered her left shoulder and stomach. The crying only got louder as she grew ever nearer. When she was close it became apparent what was causing the woman such pain. Two large pieces of metal shards had imbedded themselves into the woman's shoulder and abdomen. The woman was breathing heavily and with each heavy breath, more blood squirted from the wounds. The entire hall was filled with floating red globules. "Please." She said as she noticed Natasha. "Please take me to Medical."

Natasha wanted to help the woman. Deep in her heart she didn't want to see her suffer. But she knew it wasn't possible. Sick Bay had been split open shortly after the hull was pierced by the enemy's beam weapon. Even if she were to get her to one of the lifeboats there were only small medical kits. And to top it all off, her normal suit had been torn open where the shards of metal impaled her. If the ship wasn't pressurized further ahead, the woman would die in mere seconds.

"What are you doing?" The woman cried as Natasha began moving away. "Where are you going?"

Natasha didn't stop though, even if she really wanted to. It was something she knew would eat away at her soul for the rest of her life, but there was nothing she could do. There was nothing in her power that she could do to save that woman's life. As she got further away the screams started again. Piercing cries that would make even the coldest heart cringe. The sobbing continued to echo until another explosion rocked the ship. The sound of metal tearing rang throughout the hall, covering up the nerve wracking sobs.

Ahead an airlock waited for her. The display had shining green lights, showing that there was a lifeboat still docked directly behind it. She had made it.

The Dom's arm was still extended forward as the Gundam spun to avoid his throw. For a moment, Seiga could feel all the anger and hatred resonating from the enemy pilot. The hatred itself felt as if it were aimed at him. _No. _Seiga thought. _Not me._ It was directed at the people of space. Everyone that called the colonies home.

"I'll kill you." A voice called out as the Gundam grabbed hold of his Dom and fired the machine guns hidden in it's head. Up close Seiga could really see the difference in the Gundam he was fighting now and the one he fought at Luna II. The one in the here and now seemed to be one of the GMs with an altered appearance, but it was still extremely powerful. It's grip on his Dom's right arm was crushing the overlaying armor of the forearm. He fired up the thrusters, trying to pull free of the enemy's grasp as it fired hundreds of tiny bullets into the Dom's thick blue armor. All he accomplished was pulling both of them further into the debris field. Away from the other Mobile Suits that were battling not far off. "Just lay down and die."

The Gundam lifted the rifle in its right hand and aimed it at Seiga as he continued to drag both Mobile Suits through the debris field. He even tried strafing to the side, spinning both of them countless times as they drifted aimlessly through the field.

"Shit!" Seiga yelled as everything seemed to slow back down. The nauseating slow motion was back, but this time he felt that it was useful. He could see the Gundam's finger on the trigger. Starting to close its grasp. Ready to fire. He only had maybe half a second, but at the speed his mind was moving he could do what was needed. His Dom grabbed the barrel of the Beam Rifle and moved it slightly right as the pinkish bolt was pushing it's way out.

The bolt slammed into the Dom's right shoulder, separating the arm from the torso. _I'm free._ Seiga thought as he rocketed towards a large piece of debris. Behind it he tried to plan out what to do next. He was in a near identical situation as the last time he fought this same pilot. Alone, weaponless and damaged. But he knew what he needed to do. Where he needed to go.

"Shit!" Eric heard the other pilot yell as he fired his Beam Gun. The Dom pushed the barrel of the rifle, changing his aim. The bolt cut through the enemy Mobile Suit's shoulder, setting it free from his grasp, before flying away. Eric hesitated for a moment. He was almost amused with how well the enemy pilot fought. How much of a struggle he put up even when he knew he was outmatched.

"You can't run forever." Eric said as he looked around. He lost track of the enemy in his moment of realization. "Vince, how are you doing over there?"

There was no response. _Is he dead?_ Eric asked himself as he looked around more. There was nothing but floating debris as far as his eyes could see. Nothing but the remains of the dead, both machine and man alike. _This is the perfect place to die. _"You hear that Zeon? This is where you die."

A blur of blue machinery darted out from behind a piece of debris to his right. It raced off into the distance as he pushed the throttle down to follow. His Gundam could barely keep a constant speed as the debris was thick, but somehow the Dom could move with ease as it weaved through the field.

After a two minute chase he could see a battle ahead in the distance. Two GMs fighting two Doms and a third GM attacking a Chivvay-class cruiser. _Nash and the others._ He thought as he pushed harder on the throttle. He stopped avoiding the smaller pieces of debris, instead just ramming them out of the way. _I'm not going to let them take my revenge._

Seiga could feel his heart sink as the _Lutherian_ took hit after hit from one of the enemy Mobile Suits that were ahead of him. He could see Wong and Massey both tied up with GMs while the other laid waste to the ship. Behind him he could feel the pilot of the Gundam following him. The anger and hatred he emitted, pulled at Seiga. Slowing him down. He could feel the other pilot's thoughts. Genocidal thoughts. Thoughts of vengeance. Revenge for the death of his family. All of them were thoughts Seiga knew he should have had at some point or another. Maybe he had them, maybe he didn't. But they didn't leave a mark on him like they did on this man.

The GM attacking the _Lutherian_ pulled up in front of and slightly above the ship, aiming it's rifle at the bridge. One shot took out the entire structure, piercing through the bridge and hitting the hull near the middle of the ship. The entire vessel started to warp as the hull was stripped of its integrity, buckling over in the middle before finally exploding. Large pieces of the ship spread throughout the area, contributing to the debris field.

_NO!_ Seiga screamed in his mind. _NATASHA! That's it. I have nothing else to live for. I've lost everything._

The Gundam was close behind him now. Raising its rifle to fire. Seiga turned around quickly as he spotted a discarded Heat Saber, trying his best to keep the momentum he had, putting himself on a crash course with his enemy. The Saber powered on as the Dom grasped it with it's left hand, glowing the warm yellow glow that he hadn't been used to.

As the gap closed, Eric fired his beam weapon and Seiga struck with his weapon. An explosion flared up bright at the center of the debris field.


End file.
